


Rifle Scissor Stone

by mugglecastiel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Detective!Castiel, Fluff, Graphic Description of Corpses, Homophobic Language, Hostage Situations, M/M, Murder, Suspense, Swearing, Teacher!Dean, Texting, Troubled pasts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-16 04:51:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 33,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3475088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mugglecastiel/pseuds/mugglecastiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since the murders of his parents, Castiel hasn't been the most stable one in the bunch. When the murders were left unsolved, he decided to become a detective so that he could close out cases such as that one without leaving some orphaned child in need.<br/>That's exactly what he does. He works on the police force, trying his hardest to close cases with his partner, Gabriel.<br/>However, when Gabriel gives his number to some man at a club, his life kind of flips.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> \--I don't know much about police work, to be honest, so if I'm wrong on anything then it's all my fault. Let's just call that an error in the system. This is an older fic, too, from my wattpad. I'll be posting two chapters a day of everything I have on there until I'm ready to start posting a new fic that hopefully is good enough to meet everyone's standards. :-) Thank you for reading!--

A cry dropped itself from  Castiel's  lips as he sank down the white wall of the room, eyes on the two figures on the grey concrete floor in front of him. Red puddles spread out around the forms, blossoming and painting the drab color. "Mom," he whimpered, shaking, "Dad. Wake up. Wake up! No-"

"No!"  Castiel  sat up with a gasp, clutching the blankets around him. His steel blue eyes were wide with fear, his chest heaving with the exertion of breathing. Almost as soon as he sat up he fell back, landing in the white pillows and sheets and finding comfort. He wasn't in that cold, horrific room. He was at home. He did not just see the killer run out of the room and leave the door to bang closed with an echo. He did not just witness the murder of his own parents.

His eyes strayed to the electronic clock on his bedside table that read 4:09 am. No point in going back to sleep if it would mean more nightmares, right? He could easily just down a few cups of coffee and a quick energy drink in the middle of the day. He forced himself to sit up, blanket still wrapped around his shoulders, and made his way into the kitchen to start the coffee maker. A yawn broke his sigh as he opened the can of coffee and fought to keep his eyes open. 

He filled the water container of the coffee maker and hit the button to start it, staring down at the metal, where he could see his reflection.

He quickly turned away, distracting himself by walking to the bedroom to check his phone.  Castiel  dropped onto the bed, blanket falling off his  his  shoulders and exposing the cold on his purpled, yellowed and tanned skin, causing a shiver. When he looked down at his phone he wasn't disappointed. 

Gabriel had texted him along with another unknown number. 

Castiel  decided to check the texts from Gabriel first, which seemed to be a good idea. 

_ hey,  cassie , I gave ur number to some guy. _

_ he was hitting on me _

_ seemed like ur type ;) _

The coffee maker beeped to let  Castiel  know that it was done; three loud, shrill beeps. He stood, unplugging his phone as he did, and continued to check Gabriel's drunk messages as he walked, barefoot, to the kitchen. 

His phone was discarded onto the cluttered table when he smelled the coffee, practically melting right there. As quickly as possible,  Castiel  got his favorite mug from the cabinet and poured coffee into it, the smell flying to him like something sent from Heaven. He scooped a spoon and a half of sugar into it, then settled down at the table as he stirred the drink slowly, eagerly taking deep breaths. Even the smell was intoxicating and waking him up. After he took his first long sip and savored it,  Castiel  grabbed his phone again to see the other messages. 

_ Hey :) guy at the bar gave me your number, said I might like you.  _

Castiel  raised an eyebrow, scrolling looking at the next message. 

_ What's your name? _

He tapped his foot against the leg of the small, round metal table he was sitting at, considering giving a fake name. What was there to choose from? He was too tired still to be creative,  Castiel  decided after a few minutes of thinking, and replied with a simple _ 'I'm  Castiel . What's your name?' _

 ----

The reply came around noon, when  Castiel  was sitting at his desk across from Gabriel (who was nursing a hangover with his tenth cup of coffee), doing paperwork for their previous case. 

Gabriel never did the paperwork, he was the one who handled all of the action and was the social one, so when  Castiel's  phone buzzed on the desk, he looked surprised. "You actually talking to that idiot from last night? Far as I know I'm the only one who even talks to you," Gabriel quipped, leaning across the desk to grab  Castiel's  phone. 

Castiel  smacked him with the clipboard, smirking when Gabriel pulled his hand away quickly, shaking it. "I replied to him this morning. This is the first I've heard back from him."

"Oh! I snuck a picture of him for you." Gabriel was reaching for his own phone when  Castiel  looked up from unlocking his own phone. "I have to admit, he's not that bad. I prefer my men as women, though, so I'll hand him over." The shorter detective leaned over his desk, handing his own phone to  Castiel . 

Castiel  had to admit, the guy was pretty handsome. Definitely his type. Gorgeous mossy green eyes laid in a hardened, lined face; freckled cheeks; strong jaw; beautiful smile; mousy brown hair that looked like it would be soft to the touch... Definitely  Castiel's  type. He felt his lips twitch into a smile. "He's nice,"  Cas  agreed as he handed the phone back. "Pretty."

"Nice," Gabriel scoffed, "you're practically blushing."

"Shut up."

_ Dean. Nice to start talking to you,  Castiel . _

 ----

Castiel  got a chance to reply later when Gabriel finally went to the bathroom. It was a quick reply, though, so he couldn't have said everything he wanted to. 

_ Nice to start talking to you too, Dean. What should we talk about first? _

__

_ How about things we like? _

Castiel  got the text just as he settled down into his car to head home, thankful that it was a slow day in the city that day. He smiled and replied before even starting the car. 

_ Sounds good. Favorite color? _

The reply arrived while  Castiel  was driving, so he waited until he was in his apartment to reply. He shed his coat and replied as he dropped onto the couch, loosening his tie.

_ Blue. What's yours? _

__

_ Red. Your turn. _

__

_ Favorite book? _

This one took some thinking. He loved so many books, so he'd probably narrow it down to an author... That would be difficult as well...

_ Anything by James Patterson. And yours? _

__

_ Anything by Vonnegut.  _

__

_ Favorite food?  _

__

_ Pie. Pecan, but apple is a close second.  _

__

_ Peanut butter and jelly. Childhood memories. _

The questions continued on until  Castiel  knew every simple thing he could about Dean. Along with the above, he found out that Dean was allergic to cats so he preferred dogs, but even then he didn't really like them; his favorite actor was Harrison Ford; his favorite movie was Back to the Future; he preferred black coffee; dry humor was a favorite; favorite season was summer; favorite sound was the rustling of sheets; favorite scent was gasoline; so on, so forth. 

 ----

When  Castiel  finally fell asleep, he had another nightmare. The same one as the night before, and as the night before that.  He woke up the same way, chest heaving, clutching at the sheets. His phone buzzed with a text. 

_ You awake? _

He typed out a quick _Yeah._ After finishing that he fell back onto the pillows, waiting for the next text from Dean. 

_ Why? It's 2am. _

Castiel  grasped at excuses, trying to think of a believable. He knew that if he said that he had nightmares Dean would feel bad for him. He settled for the most believable one: _Work. Why are you up?_ __

_ My kid's crying. Won't go to sleep.  _

A bewildered look flew over  Castiel's  features, he could feel it. A child? No way. Dean was a father? _You're a father?_ __

_ Haha ! No, I was joking. I just can't sleep.  _

_Pity_ ,  Castiel  replied. _Would have made it easier to tell you I had one._ __

_ What? _

_Yeah, I have a kid._   Castiel  smirked slightly to himself. He loved messing with people. 

_ No way. _

_ Yeah. Name's Alex.  _

_ Alex. _

_ Alex James.  _

_ Last name? _

_ Classified information. He lives with his mom. _

_Huh. Never would have pegged you to have a child._  

_ I don't. _

_ What? You just told me you did! _

_ I don't have a child, Dean, it was a joke.  _

_ Jackass. _

_ I figured you might appreciate a joke in return. _

_ Well, thanks. I guess.  _

_ You're welcome. You should try to sleep. _

_ I am. _

_ Then why are you replying so fast? _

_ Shut up. _

Castiel  smiled at his phone, rolling onto his side. He felt like a freaking schoolgirl. He already had a crush on this guy, despite having talked to him only through text for less than a day. He didn't even know what Dean sounded like. Dean didn't even know what he looked like, though, or what he sounded like. And Dean was still flirting shamelessly with  him . It was his duty to flirt back, right?

_Never_ ,  Castiel  replied. _Why would you want me to shut up?_ __

_ You ask too many questions. _

_ Whatever! You ask just as many as I do. _

_ I do not! You're lying! _

_ You do!  _

_ Hell no, dumbass.  _

_ That's my line. _

_ ;) _

Castiel's  face heated up slightly. _I want to meet you._ __

_ Why would you want something like that? _

_ Because we're friends. Don't friends know what the other sounds like? _

_ We don't even know what the other looks like. _

_ I know what you look like. _

_ How? _

_ Gabriel. The short annoying guy from the club?  _

_ Oh. Him. When did he get a picture of me? _

_ I'm not sure, but he showed me.  _

_ And? _

_ And what? _

_ What did you think? _

Castiel  frowned at his phone. What was Dean getting at? Was he fishing for compliments?  Castiel  could definitely supply tons of compliments for Dean, but he settled with a simple _I liked your looks._ __

_ Such as...? _

Definitely fishing for compliments. _Your eyes are very nice_ ,  Castiel  attempted, chewing on his tongue. _As is your hair._ __

_ Thank you. _

_ You're welcome. _

_ Do I get to know what you look like? _

_ Maybe sometime. _

_ Sometime, huh? Why not now? _

_ Because I'm laying in bed right now.  _

_ Do you not have any pictures with you in them on your phone? _

_ I do, but they're all bad.  _

_ I don't mind. I just want to see what you look like.  _

_Fine. Give me a minute._   Castiel  sighed, hitting the camera button next to the text box. He chose to go to his photo albums and hit camera roll, scrolling through until he found the one he wanted. It was a picture of himself and Gabriel after they solved a case, one that Gabriel had taken.  Castiel  was sitting in the driver's seat of the car, a smile on his face from the adrenaline of tracking down the murderer and making the arrest. He had one hand on the wheel, the other flipping Gabriel and the camera off half-heartedly. Gabriel was making a face- as usual- at the camera, holding it high up to include  Castiel  in the picture as well. He pressed send after typing _I think it's pretty obvious which one I am._ __

_ You're gorgeous. _

Castiel  felt his face heat up and he shook his head slightly. Even if he didn't believe it, he could let Dean believe it. _Thank you._ __

_ No problem. I bet you hear it a lot. _

_ Not really. _

_ You're kidding me.  _

_ Nope. I don't hear it often.  _

_ I'll be sure that you do. Mark my words.  _

_ Whatever.  _

_ I'm falling asleep. _

_ Sleep well. _

_ You too. Goodnight,  Cas . _

_ Goodnight, Dean. _

 ----

Castiel  woke up in the morning to the alarm, surprised that he actually got sleep for once. Usually he would have nightmares and wake up and not be able to fall asleep again. He slapped the alarm and yawned, getting up slowly. He quickly assembled the coffee maker and started it, checking his phone for any texts from Dean while he waited for the beep. There wasn't anything, but  Castiel  supposed that was alright. Dean needed sleep, right? It made sense that he hadn't texted him back, they'd been talking until 3 a.m. last night.  Cas  pulled a mug out of the cabinet and set it on the counter next to his phone, tapping his fingers on the counter. 

The coffee maker beeped and  Castiel  sighed in relief, pouring as much as he could into the mug and stirring in his usual one and a half spoons of sugar. His hands curled around the mug and he inhaled deeply, a soft groan coming from his lips afterward. God, he loved the smell of coffee. His smile stayed on his lips as he took a sip and made his way into the bathroom to shower. As he showered he drank his coffee slowly, humming to himself. When he stepped out, he wrapped his towel around his waist and picked the mug off of the counter again, finishing the last of the drink. He yawned again and frowned at himself in the mirror, starting to brush his teeth. Once that was done, he walked into his bedroom and got dressed in his usual suit, drying his hair just after that. He tried to tame it in the mirror as usual, but nothing worked. Figures,  Castiel  thought, it never works. 

A loud buzz came from the living room and he frowned, walking out of the bedroom with one shoe on to stop the obnoxious noise. 

Dean was texting him.

_ Rise and shine! _

_ Good morning. _

_ Wake up, idiot. _

_ You need to wake up. _

_ It's Thursday! Wake up! You have work! _

_ Do you have work? I guess I don't know your schedule... _

_ I mean, I have work, so I'm guessing you do. _

_ What do you even do? Aren't you a cop? _

_ Oh well. Either way it doesn't matter. _

_ Though cops are kind of hot... _

Castiel  laughed at the last few texts, tapping out a quick reply. _I've been awake since 6 am, Dean. I was in the shower. I am a detective with the police, yes. If you find the uniforms hot, I guess you'll be sorry to hear that I don't wear one._ __

_ Shit, I bet you looked good in it when you did wear one. Good morning. _

_ Good morning, Dean.  _

_ Did you sleep well? _

_ I suppose. Did you?  _

Castiel  replied as he sat on his bed, one foot propped up in front of him. He tugged on his shoe and replied, tied it, then replied. As he meandered back into the kitchen, mug in one hand, he replied, then leaned against the counter.  Dean surely seemed to be an obsessive texter. 

_ Yeah, I did. Any dreams? _

_ No dreams. You? _

_Nope._ There was a lull as  Castiel  tried to decide what to talk about. Then his phone vibrated. _So, Mr. Detective, what's the case today?_ __

_ Follow ups. Paperwork.  _

_ You got a partner? _

_ Gabriel. _

_ Any cases you've worked that I may have heard of? _

_ Remember that murderer four days ago? _

_ That was you? You're kidding me! _

_ That was me. Mostly Gabriel, but that was me. _

_ Damn. _

_ What do you do for a living? _

_ I'm a teacher.  _

_ Really? What grade? _

_ 3.  _

_ Oh, so you deal with the bratty stage. _

_ Hey! They aren't all brats. _

_ Every third grader I've met has been. _

_ My class isn't. They know better. _

_ Whatever. Good luck with the brats. _

_ Good luck with the criminals.  _

 ----

Castiel  settled into bed that night after making plans to meet Dean for coffee in the morning. They were going to meet... Finally,  Castiel  decided. Finally. Even though they'd spent three days talking, it felt like it had been longer. It was going to be weird, talking to Dean in person. He would have to actually hear the words instead of reading them. However nervous  Castiel  was, he was excited. A voice needed to go with the words he had been reading for days.


	2. Chapter 2

Castiel  got ready in a hurry the next morning, drinking a cup of coffee as he did so, and hurriedly got dressed in his favorite suit. He examined himself in the mirror almost sadly, wishing he could dress casually, as he tied the blue tie around his neck. He grabbed his wallet, phone, and keys, stuffed them in his pocket, and went out the door. Already late,  Castiel  thought with a long sigh. 

As he stepped out of the car at the cafe,  Castiel  inhaled deeply.  Petrichor flooded his senses . It was one of his favorite aromas, and it was prominent this morning. He looked up at the sky and smiled when he saw the grey clouds floating above him. A hand settled on his shoulder and he turned his head back down and to the side quickly, being greeted with green eyes and a wide smile. 

" Castiel ," Dean sighed, and  Cas  felt his own lips turn in a smile. Dean's voice was scratchy, yet smooth, and was deep. It was alluring. "Or did I just butcher that?"

"If you want to you can call me  Cas ," he replied, hands in his pockets. "I don't mind. Just refrain from Cassie, I hear that enough."

"Cassie? You're not even close to feminine enough for that nickname. I'll stick with  Cas ." Dean paused, hand still on  Castiel's  shoulder.  Castiel  bit the inside of his lip, enjoying the warmth that it was spreading through his body. What he didn't like was the stupid fluttering in his stomach. It made him feel like he'd eaten a live bird. "Should we- uh- go inside?" 

Castiel  nodded, a smile still on his lips. "Let's go."

"So, you're heading to work after this?" Dean asked as  Castiel  opened the door and held it for him, smiling as a thank you. 

"Yeah, sadly,"  Castiel  sighed. "I'm guessing you are too? I mean, if your clothes are anything to go by." He gestured to Dean, who was dressed in khaki pants, brown loafers, and a red, white, yellow and blue plaid shirt. A lopsided grin cut into freckled cheeks. "I'll take that as a yes,"  Castiel  laughed softly, then elbowed Dean gently. "What do you want?"

Dean looked up at the chalkboard that had all of the drinks written in various colors, finally ordering a plain black coffee.  Castiel  ordered the same thing, pulling out his wallet and paying for both before Dean could pay for his own. That earned him a strange look from the lighter haired man, and  Castiel  shrugged in response as he put his wallet in his pocket again. He thanked the barista for the coffees and handed Dean his, grabbing three sugar packets from the wire basket on the counter and looking to Dean, who smiled and headed toward the table in the far corner. They took their seats- Dean by the wall,  Castiel  across from him, and smiled at each other for a second before both looking away. Dean took a sip of his coffee before looking back at  Castiel , and  Castiel  could feel his eyes on his every move as he poured the sugar into his coffee and stirred it slowly. 

"Why did you pay for me?" Dean asked suddenly, making  Castiel  look up. 

"I felt like it,"  Castiel  shrugged slightly, smiling slightly as he rested one arm on the edge of the table in front of him, elbow next to his fingers, leverage as he stirred his coffee. "It's no big deal. It was, what, three dollars?" 

"Yeah," Dean shook his head slightly, still smiling. "Still."

"It was simple, Dean,"  Castiel  smiled, tapping the stirring stick on the edge of the cup. He licked the coffee off of it and set it on the table, replacing the lid on the cup. "Just something I wanted to do, kind of like you watching me pour the sugar in my coffee and stirring it. Simple." 

Dean squinted slightly at him and laughed, and as soon as it tumbled off of his lips  Castiel  knew he liked the sound. It was hypnotizing, Dean's laugh. It drew him in and flattened any sadness he may have had in mind. A grin blossomed on his face just before he took a sip of coffee, holding the plastic cup with both hands now. He looked down, then looked back up at Dean through his eyelashes, seeing Dean grinning at him, head tilted. "Did you really just do that?"

"Do what?"  Castiel  asked around the rim of his cup before taking another sip. "Flirt?"

"Yeah," Dean smirked. "Flirt." Two strong fingers pointed at  Castiel's  eyes. "With those baby blues."

Castiel  smirked. "Maybe. What does it matter? It's not like you haven't been flirting with me either."

"Yeah, true," Dean sighed, lopsided grin back. "Just not so openly. You want a secret?"  Castiel  tilted his head and squinted at Dean, who continued after a moment. "I like it: The flirting, everything. I like you." 

"I like you too, Dean,"  Castiel  smiled, wetting his lips before continuing. "But if you're trying to get me to kiss you... No go. I never kiss on the first date."

"Never?" Dean raised an eyebrow. "That's hard to believe."

"It's true. Ask Gabe. He's tried to set me up many times and they all tried to kiss me on the first date. Call me rude if you'd like, I've heard it plenty of times."  Castiel  sighed, looking down at his coffee's lid, thumb tracing the bottom edge of it. 

"I don't think it's rude," said Dean, a smile in his voice even if it wasn't on his face. "I think it's almost polite. It makes it so there's more than just one thing and gives something to look forward to." 

Castiel  smiled at Dean, slowly lifting his cup to his lips. "You're something different, Dean."

"Is that good?"

"Absolutely." 

"How am I different, though?"

"You just are. I'm not sure how to explain. You're... You. You don't care what you say."

"Neither do you."

"Exactly. You aren't being nitpicky. You're just saying what comes to mind and showing yourself. You're not saying what you think I'd like to hear." 

"I think it's better to speak your mind when you first meet someone."

Castiel  smirked slightly. "That's not because I'm a detective, is it? I have a feeling it might be a part of it." 

"No!" Dean said after a long drink of coffee. "No, it's not. I've always thought that. I just find it easier."

Considering this while looking Dean over,  Castiel  took a sip of his coffee. "Easier?"

"Easier. It shows you who agrees with you and who doesn't. Of course, the only times I have to change to a filter between my mouth and mind is when I'm at work. Even then I'm pretty honest, though."

Castiel  nodded, chewing the inside of his lip slightly. "What's your name?" he finally asked, looking up and meeting Dean's eyes. He watched them turn slightly into a frown and flick away as Dean answered. 

"Dean."

"I mean your full name."

"Dean Michael Winchester."

"Good. I'm  Castiel  James Collins. It's nice to meet you, Dean Winchester."

" Cas , what are you doing?" Dean was frowning and leaning toward  Castiel , hands around his coffee. 

"Where do you live?"

Dean's eyes flicked off to the side again and  Cas  felt a smile tug at his lips. "Kansas City." 

"What's your profession?"

"I'm a teacher. Third grade. Why does this feel like an interrogation,  Cas ?"

"How many students are in your class?" 

Dean shook his head. " Cas , why should I answer this? You're interrogating me on our first date." 

"Just answer it. Please?"

An exasperated sigh left Dean's lungs. "Twenty-three."

"Do you have any siblings?"

Dean's eyes met  Castiel's  and stayed there. "No."

"You're lying,"  Castiel  whispered, seeing the twitch in Dean's face. It was a  microexpression  of shock. "You have a sibling, maybe even more than one. Why did you lie?"

"They don't talk to me. Last time I talked to my little brother was at his wedding, where we had a falling out. I don't like to remember it, so I lie." 

"That was honesty. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I think I deserve something for answering your stupid questions." 

"I have to go,"  Cas  sighed, feeling his phone buzz in his pocket. "Come with me?"

"Fine." 

They stood, Dean still upset about  Castiel's  interrogation. He was pouting slightly, chin held up, coffee in one hand, being held by the lid.  Castiel  snatched it out of his hand and held it out to him. Dean took it by the cup. "You'll spill it if you hold it by the lid. Believe me, I've tried." 

"Whatever." 

They walked out of the cafe and back to their cars, where  Castiel  admired the Impala Dean drove from a small distance. The gorgeous car fit the gorgeous man perfectly. "Dean!" He said, noticing the man was heading for the car without so much as a goodbye. The man turned, obviously still annoyed. "Come here." 

Dean sighed and set the cup on the top of the car, heading over to  Castiel . "What? You want to ask me another question?"

"No,"  Castiel  smiled. "I wanted to thank you. Most people don't make it five minutes with me."

"I can see why."

"Oh, stop pouting, please,"  Castiel , who was smiling affectionately, raised his hand to Dean's cheek. "I hope we can do this again." 

"Maybe. Promise you won't interrogate me next time?"

"No promises,"  Castiel  grinned at his date, who rolled his eyes. "I'll text you, okay?"

"Okay."

Castiel  closed his eyes and pressed his lips to Dean's forehead lightly, lingering. His thumb brushed across Dean's cheekbone before he pulled away. "Until next time."

"Until next time,  Cas ." Dean was smiling now, a light pink brushing his cheeks and making his freckles stand out like a clown in a poetry reading. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye. Good luck with the brats."

"Good luck with the criminals." 

 ----

When  Castiel  got to the police station, Gabriel was waiting outside for him, a file in his hands. The shorter detective hurriedly got into the passenger seat of the car and hooked his thumb to the left to show  Cas  the way he needed to go. 

"Murder. Exactly like the last one we convicted. Eyes burnt out, bloated slightly as though she was drowned."

"She?"

"She," Gabriel confirmed. "Poor woman."

Castiel  sighed. "Agreed. This sounds like the M.O. of the last killer, though. Could it be a copy-cat?"

"Could be. Either that or Jackson had a partner that we had no idea about." Gabriel was flipping through the papers. "Turn right up here." 

Castiel  hooked a right. "Anything else?"

"Nothing. Chief told us to check it out. We're assigned to this case as well." 

"Great,"  Cas  mumbled. "Repetition."

"I know," Gabriel muttered. "You  wanna  interrogate Jackson or should I?"

Castiel  glanced at Gabriel with a small smirk. He knew the question was rhetorical and that Gabriel just wanted  Castiel  to give him the look, so he indulged. "Obviously I will. Don't worry about it. Are you going to come along?"

"Obviously."

"Good. Do I head straight?"

" _ Sí _ ," Gabriel yawned, leaning back in his seat. "Factory where it happened is on the left."

Castiel  followed Gabriel's directions, pulling into the lot next to the side door of the building. There were only a few cars there, which  Castiel  assumed were the ones who found the body and the owner of the factory. 

"Come on, Gabriel."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Gabriel grabbed the case file and pushed himself out of the car, following  Castiel  into the metal factory. There were three men standing in a group by the door, and Gabriel immediately started talking to him. 

Castiel  accepted the gloves the paramedic handed him and pulled them on, eyes on the woman who laid on the grey concrete of the factory floor. Long brown hair spread out in all directions, tentacles of this drowned octopus grasping for some kind of release. Where eyes should be staring up at the tall ceiling of the factory, there were gaping holes surrounded by red and blackened burn marks, some of them so deep they went down to the bone, showing a small fraction of white, a grayish white, through them. A sad sigh fell from  Castiel  as he crouched to push his hand into the woman's pocket and search for some kind of identification. He was met with a wet pocket and a soft yet tense thigh. He reached across the body and tried the other pocket, finding a driver's license in her pocket. Sarah Blake. Female. Judging by the birthday, she turned thirty recently. Pretty brown eyes... Shame. 

Castiel  looked over his shoulder and gestured for someone to bring him an evidence bag. He put the card in it carefully, zipping it up and handing it back. He looked at the woman's bloated hands next, trying his hardest not to breathe too deeply. The scent of the dead was something he was kind of used to, but it was never the same. Once  Castiel  smelled it, it stayed in his nose all day. He cradled her hand in his, feeling his shoulders fall. There was a ring on her third left finger. Sarah Blake was either married or engaged. That meant that there was someone to break the news to. Good thing he had Gabriel to do that part of the job. 

Castiel  went through his routine checks, finding no other evidence on the woman. She had been drowned after her eyes had been burned, he decided, as the woman's eye sockets had excess water crowded in them. He soon stood and pulled off his gloves, telling his findings to the paramedics and telling them they could go have them confirmed or denied at the lab.  Castiel  made his way back to Gabriel and the witnesses just as they were finishing up, listening to the exchange of farewells and thank you, then held the door for Gabriel. 

"Any names?"

"Sarah Blake. She was definitely drowned, her clothing was wet and there was water in her eyes and ears."

"Great. Exact M.O. Let's go check with Jackson."

"Sounds good to me. Did I mention she was married or engaged?"  Castiel  asked as they got into the car. He laughed as Gabriel slammed the door. "There's no way in hell I am telling her husband or  fiance  that she's dead," he insisted. "You know what happened last time I tried."

"Yeah, you slept with the husband."

"Exactly."

"And he turned out to be the murderer. You slept with the murderer."

"At least he was good in bed,"  Castiel  shrugged, pulling out of the lot. "Definitely murdered me." 

"Okay," Gabriel laughed. "Okay. Too much information."

"You're the one who brought that up,"  Castiel  grinned, heading in the direction of the prison. 

Once they arrived, they flashed their badges and were allowed in after a short minute. They told the guard they needed to see Raphael Jackson and waited in the secluded room,  Castiel  standing against the wall with his arms crossed while Gabriel sat at the table, feet propped up by the corner of it. They stood in silence, the only noise the sound of the rain pounding against the roof of the prison. 

The door opened again and the guard led Raphael in. Raphael was clad in the khaki jumpsuit the prison issued him, cuffs around his wrists. The guard cuffed them around the bar on the table and moved to the wall by the door, leaning casually against it. 

Raphael smiled at  Castiel  when their eyes met. " Castiel ." The dark man drew out the name, voice smoothly ominous. "It's good to see you." 

"As it is you,"  Castiel  replied, stepping forward from the wall and knocking Gabriel's feet down from the table. He cast a glare at Gabriel when he started to protest. "Any idea why we're here?"

"Not a clue," Raphael replied, hooded eyes following  Castiel . A smile  smile  stayed on his face. "Care to fill me in?"

"There's been another murder."  Castiel  watched Raphael's face harden. "We have reason to believe you may have possessed a partner." 

"A partner?" Raphael laughed. It was a sound that grated against  Castiel's  ears unpleasantly. "You think I had a partner?" 

"Yes, we do," Gabriel said impatiently, and  Castiel  put his hand on his shoulder to keep him from standing up. Raphael had always gotten on Gabriel's nerves, especially now that he was the convicted murderer of five people. It hadn't been near as bad when Raphael had been working with the police. 

"Milton is right, Raphael. We do believe you had a partner. Mind telling us who?"

"I didn't have a partner." Raphael's dark eyes stayed with  Castiel's  even as he moved across the room. 

"Liar,"  Castiel  smiled, moving closer to Raphael. He knew he couldn't get hurt by him, and if he did it wouldn't be too severe. "You had a partner. Tell us."

"Never. I did not have a partner." Raphael was gritting his teeth, breathing heavily. He was pissed.  Castiel  leaned over his shoulder and whispered in his ear. 

"Tell us who your partner was, Jackson."

A metal bar hit him in the stomach and he grunted, doubling over slightly. There was a rustling behind him but he shook his head, raising his hand after straightening up again. "It's fine," he breathed to the guard, who was itching for a chance to lay a finger on Raphael. "I'm fine. Back to where you were." She frowned and continued to stare at  Castiel  for a second, anger and anxiety seeping out of her expression, before returning to her spot beside the door. "Raphael, please,"  Castiel  started again, standing on the other side of the table and looking at the criminal. "Tell us who it is. It will make things so much easier." 

"I didn't have a partner!" Raphael roared, and the was no other word to describe it. He stood in a rush, yelling the words and glaring at  Castiel  so hard that if looks could kill,  Castiel  would be a heap on the floor. Gabriel stood at the same time, eyes flicking between them, but mostly staying with Raphael. Distrust seeped out of Gabriel, leaking into  Castiel's  air as well. 

However,  Castiel  raised his hands in surrender. "Whatever you say, Jackson. Please take him back to his cell. Thank you." He smiled politely at the guard, who rushed forward to take care of Raphael. The detectives followed them out, taking a different direction after they left the room.

Once in the car and out of the prison borders, Gabriel looked at  Castiel . 

"You know he has a partner, don't you?"

"Hell yeah, he does. He's trying hard to hide it."

"I could tell."

"Almost had me fooled for a second... Until he kept my gaze and his lip twitched."

"Ah, the old tell."

"The old tell,"  Castiel  repeated with a smile, taking a turn to head back into the city. 

 ----

Castiel  dropped into bed at eleven that night, yawning and burrowing his cheek into the pillow happily. He'd just started to drift when his phone vibrated in his pocket, demanding his attention. 

_ Are you awake? _

Castiel  smiled slightly at the text from Dean, exhaling sharply. _Halfway. Everything okay?_ __

_ Yeah, everything is fine. Just wondering if you were awake. Go to sleep,  Cas , you deserve it. _

_ Deserve what? Sleep? Everyone deserves that. What's wrong, Dean? _

_ Just thinking. I want to see you again.  _

_ I would like to see you again too. When and where? _

_ How about tomorrow morning?  _

_ Make that noon and you've got yourself a deal. _

_ Sounds good. Where should we meet? _

Castiel  yawned, typing out a slow, tired response. _My place? I'll make lunch. I've been told I'm a good chef._ __

_ Will do. I'll be there at noon. _

The phone buzzed on the pillow with the last text just as  Castiel's  eyes fell closed.  __

 ----

The buzzing of his doorbell broke  Castiel  out of his dreamless sleep, dragging him up to face reality. He winced when he opened his eyes to the light flooding in through his windows and dragged himself up at another incessant buzz. "I'm coming," he grumbled. Gabriel had probably come up with some lead on the case and couldn't wait to share his stupid, useless idea with  Castiel , who had gotten probably four hours of sleep. What time was it anyway? He opened the door as he wiped his eye, stopping in the action when he saw the man on the other side of the door. 

Dean stood in front of him, grin painting his face, dressed impeccably in jeans, a black t-shirt, and a denim over shirt. Oh, God, had  Cas  set up a date at his apartment? And forgotten? Shit. 

"Shit," he whispered, sighing. "I'm sorry."

"For?" Dean raised an eyebrow. "You know, I almost showed up in my pajamas. We could have matched." He gestured down at  Castiel's  sagging flannel pants and t-shirt. At least  Castiel  had remembered to put on the shirt last night before bed. He didn't want Dean asking about his bruises. 

"Too bad,"  Castiel  quipped, stepping out of Dean's way to let him into the messy apartment. He surveyed the place as Dean entered, scoffing at himself. Damn his sloppiness. "It would have been fun to see you in your pajamas." Closing the door softly,  Castiel  closed his eyes. Damn it, why couldn't he have woken up at least ten minutes earlier? 

"So," Dean started, looking around with fascination, "you live here?"

"Just so happens that I do, yes."  Castiel  smiled slightly, heading toward his bedroom. As he passed Dean he let his hand brush against the man's lower back. "Mind if I change quickly?"

Green eyes found his and wandered down for a second before lifting back up to  Castiel's  blue ones. A smile blossomed on Dean's face again. "Okay, go ahead."  Castiel  laughed and went into his room, shutting the door behind him. He quickly checked his phone to see what he had agreed to do while half asleep and smiled. Smooth, he thought, agree to make him lunch. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. As he pulled out jeans and changed into them as quickly as possible, he and Dean carried on a conversation through the door. "You're a messy person, aren't you?" Dean asked, voice distracted.

"Sometimes. It's mostly when I'm on a case that I'm messiest, and that's only because I'm barely ever home. Always chasing leads, especially with Gabriel as my partner. He thinks up every idea in the book and has to share them and use them." He zipped the jeans, buttoned them, and shed the t-shirt. 

"Really? I thought that would be you."

"I'm mostly the paperwork."  Castiel  looked a shirt over quickly then shook his head and moved on. "Paperwork and interrogations, some tracking. I'm also good when we have to do stake outs- which is rare, don't believe the television- since I don't sleep that much." He finally settled on a red button down and tugged it on, buttoning aptly and at a quick pace. He buttoned the last two buttons as he walked out of his room, almost coming face to face with Dean.  Castiel  smiled and leaned forward, over the man's shoulder, to whisper, "You can take off your shoes if you'd like." After brushing a light kiss on Dean's cheek he pulled away and went into the kitchen to clear the table of papers, heart racing slightly. Why was he suddenly really nervous?

A rustling came from the living room and he smiled, setting the stack of papers on the counter next to the refrigerator. Seconds later Dean padded into the kitchen, where  Castiel  gestured for him to sit down at the now clear table. He leaned against the counter and looked at Dean approvingly, hands on the counter behind him. "What?" Dean asked, nervous laughter spilling from his lips. "You're looking at me like I'm the most interesting person  in  the world."

"You are,"  Castiel  rolled his eyes, turning to rummage through cabinets to find something to make. 

"How? I don't understand," came from behind him and he shook his head slightly. 

"Everyone is, really, but you're fun to watch and very nice to look at. Pleasing to the eyes, you know?"  Castiel  laughed. "You make so many facial expressions even when you don't think you are. It's fun to watch. I like trying to decipher all of them." 

"Decipher, huh?" Dean was smiling-  Castiel  could tell by his voice. "You like to decipher me." 

"Yeah,"  Castiel  nodded, finally deciding on a simple soup. He found a pot and filled it about halfway with water, dropping two bullion cubes in it and shrugging as he turned on the burner to let it do its magic. He dropped into the chair across from Dean, silently loving the smile Dean had on. "I do like deciphering you," he finally finished. 

"Someone's tired, isn't he?" Dean's eyes squinted slightly and he leaned forward on the table. 

"Maybe a little,"  Castiel  smiled, barely turning the corners of his lips up. "I have a question. Should we call this a second date?"

Dean seemed to consider the proposition for a second, lips pressing together, before he cocked his head to the side a little and nodded. "Yeah. Let's consider it a second date."

"Good. I don't think I can wait that much longer,"  Cas  sighed in relief. 

"Wait for what?"

"This,"  Castiel  mumbled, leaning across the table and sliding one hand to curve around Dean's jaw. He coaxed the man forward slightly and let his own eyes wander the now close up freckles and slightly crooked slope of a nose as he wet his own lips. A small smile tugged at his lips again before he moved in closer and pressed his own lips against Dean's. His eyes dropped closed as he lingered, enjoying the feel of those soft, smooth lips on his own. Dean very slowly, hesitantly, kissed him again, one hand coming up to  Castiel's  shoulder.  Castiel  smiled afterward, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. That damn bird was back in his stomach again, tickling his insides and trying to break free. His nose brushed against Dean's as he slowly started to pull away, lip dragging against Dean's as he did so. A sigh escaped as he sat back down, unsure when he had stood to lean across the table. "I've been thinking about doing that," he scratched his chin absently as he spoke. His eyes flicked to the counter beside him before meeting Dean's again. As soon as his gaze connected with Dean's he smiled, relaxing slightly. "Stop that," he whispered affectionately. "Stop looking at me with those eyes."

"Oh," Dean laughed, and  Castiel  felt himself rise and flatten, "sorry. I'll go change them now." 

Cas  shook his head. "Very funny."

"What do you mean?"

"Those eyes?" Dean nodded and  Castiel  got distracted for a moment by the pink tongue darting out to wet soft lips that his own had just touched... Gorgeous lips. "'Those eyes meaning the ones that make me melt on the inside. You turn them on whenever something couple-y happens. You had them yesterday when I flirted with you and again just now after we kissed. It's annoying, you know. They destroy me."  Cas  pouted slightly. "I can barely think when you look at me like that." 

Dean was looking at him like that, with the same eyes he had described. "Like what?" he asked innocently. 

Castiel  smirked and leaned back in his chair, shaking his head minutely. "Your eyes get all wide and adorable. You stare at me while this smile shows up on your face. It's a smile like you've just been told you're the new father of a baby girl, Dean." A sigh left his mouth again, long and deep. "It melts me. You melt me."

A smile drew across Dean's face. "I melt you?" he asked softly, eyes wandering over  Castiel  and down to the table.  Castiel  smirked as Dean ducked his head to hide his blushing face. "I melt you and you ruin me,  Cas ."

"Ruin?"  Castiel  laughed, leaning forward again. His fingers brushed Dean's arm and he grinned when Dean's hand shot out to grasp his. Their fingers laced together. Dean's eyes met  Castiel's  again. Somehow  Castiel  couldn't understand how this guy had fallen into his arms. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"It's good," Dean beamed, "definitely good. It's wonderful, actually. You leave me in ruins and it's only been a few days." 

"That sounds like a bad thing."

"It's not. Believe me."

"Fine,"  Castiel  chuckled, squeezing Dean's hand gently. He leaned forward and kissed Dean again lazily. "Should we make this a date to last the whole day?" As he leaned back he spoke, stretching out his own arm to keep his hand in Dean's.

"That sounds perfect. What would we even do?" Dean's eyebrows pulled together as he tilted his head slightly. 

Castiel  frowned and adjusted his hand in Dean's as he thought. "We could watch a movie," he suggested, "go on a walk, anything. Make up the day as we go along." 

"That sounds perfect. Let's do it." Dean nodded and  Castiel  yawned slightly before standing up. He didn't let go of Dean's hand until he had to. Even then he heard Dean stand up and come behind him, hands settling on  Castiel's  hips. "What're you making?"

"Soup,"  Castiel  replied. "Simple, I know. I would have prepared something, but you know, I was asleep..." 

"Probably looking adorable," Dean sighed against his shoulder and  Castiel  shook his head slightly. "Really, I bet you look adorable when you sleep. Your face relaxes and you're calm. Not tense like you are now."

"I'm tense?"  Castiel  frowned, stirring the water with a wooden spoon to help it even out. 

"Yeah, you are," Dean kissed the nape of  Castiel's  neck and  Castiel  felt himself shiver while opening a box of noodles and pouring some into the soup. "It's like you're on duty. Always ready for a fight or a chase. Ready to spring into action."

Castiel  hummed slightly, frowning. "I didn't know that. I guess I've always been that way... It comes naturally." He turned in Dean's arms and kissed his forehead as he moved to the fridge to find vegetables in the freezer. He opened the bag of mixed vegetables and dumped them in the boiling water, turning in Dean's arms again. He found himself nose to freckled nose with Dean, gazing down into mossy eyes. "You know, we're being awfully domestic right now."

"Yeah," Dean grinned, not moving away. "We are. I like it." 

"I like it too,"  Castiel  admitted, one hand raising to brush through Dean's hair. It was definitely as soft as he'd imagined... Like a cloud, he thought. Dean leaned into the touch and closed his eyes, almost cat-like. "Do you want to sit down again?" 

"Nah," Dean mumbled contently. "I'm fine like this if you are."  Castiel  had to admit he was rather comfortable there with Dean's arms around his waist, against the counter next to the stove. He let himself relax gradually into Dean, arms coming up to circle a strong torso. His nose brushed Dean's neck as he buried his face in that strong neck. A short laugh bubbled out of him when the scent of artificial lemon and spice hit him. "What?" Dean asked almost defensively. "What's wrong?"

"Did you put on aftershave?"

There was a pause. "Maybe."  Castiel  started to laugh again, Dean laughing with him this time. "Is there something wrong with it? Does it smell bad?"

Castiel  shook his head slightly, arms tightening to pull Dean closer. "It actually smells kind of good," he admitted, "but it is strong. Really strong. Ox strong." 

Dean laughed at the expression. "I'll remember to use less next time then," he whispered, lips pressing to  Castiel's  shoulder. "Promise." Smiling,  Castiel  drew back from the hug to match his lips to Dean's happily. 

As they stood against the counter kissing,  Castiel's  phone started to ring in the bedroom. Dean started to pull away from the kiss to let  Castiel  answer it, but  Castiel   shook his head. "No," he whispered, one hand moving to the back of Dean's neck to pull him back. "It's probably Gabriel with another whack-job theory for this case. Come on, Dean..." His lips pressed against Dean's again as Dean grunted in protest.  Castiel  sighed and pulled back only enough so their lips weren't touching. "I don't want to answer it." 

The ringing ceased for a second before starting up again. "You should, though," Dean said only after it resumed. "It would be rude if you just left it to ring."

"He knows to leave a message after the fourth call,"  Castiel  sighed. "It's Gabriel. You really think I want to talk to him every time?"

"What if it isn't Gabriel?"

"No one else calls me. And even if they did I could say I was sleeping." 

"Come on,  Cas , even if it is Gabriel you should answer the phone. It's courtesy. He is the one who got us together, anyway," Dean frowned at  Castiel , who sighed in resignation. "For me? Answer it, please."

"Fine,"  Castiel  sighed again, reluctantly tearing himself from Dean to go to the bedroom and answer the phone. He pulled it off of the charger and hit answer, lifting it to his ear. "Hello?"

"I have an idea," Gabriel said and  Castiel  sighed. 

"What is it now?"

"What if Jackson didn't have a partner? What if it's a copy-cat and they're trying to become like Jackson?"

"I'm positive he had a partner, Gabriel,"  Cas  frowned wondering what he was getting at with his new idea. He had agreed with him yesterday that Raphael was lying... 

"I mean, what if this guy- partner or aficionado- wants the same amount of fame as Jackson? He wants his cake and wants to eat it while he can. And we're just handing him the fork."

Shit. "Damn it, Gabriel,"  Castiel  muttered, putting the phone on speaker and turning to pull his jacket off of the door and pull it on, tucking his holster and gun on his belt as Gabriel continued to ramble, probably as a distraction. 

"Whatever,"  Castiel  finally said, a hint of finalization to his voice. Hoping his word and tone displayed that he was coming,  Cas  hung up and sighed, sliding into his shoes. Damn Gabriel, messing up his date. That's when he noticed Dean standing by the door, lower lip between his teeth. 

"You put your gun on," Dean observed. "You have to work?"

"Dumbass,"  Castiel  muttered, hearing the hurt sadness in Dean's voice. "Dumbass, that Gabriel," he cleared up as he stood. "He's gotten himself in trouble. Probably held at gun point, knowing him. He used the code word."

"So you have to go?" Dean looked up at him with those eyes and  Cas  felt his heart collapse. 

"Yeah," he whispered, hands lifting to Dean's shoulders. He kissed him softly, hand running up his neck and onto his cheek. "I'll be back, okay? I promise. Then we can have our day together. I'll make this as quick as possible."  Castiel  spoke as he dialed the station to tell them Gabriel was in trouble. "Just..."  Castiel  paused in the doorway, looking at Dean, who was looking back with worry etched on his face. "Just stay here, okay? Don't answer the door. If you hear anything suspicious, call me or text me and go into the bedroom. Okay?" Dean nodded. "Feel free to do anything you want, Dean, really. I trust you. I'll be back."

Just as  Castiel  was closing the door, a foot blocked it. Hands framed his face and lips pressed to his roughly. He smiled slightly and kissed Dean back, hand curling in his hair. "You better be back or I'll hunt your ass down,  Castiel  Collins."


	3. Chapter 3

The trio of Castiel, Balthazar, and the chief of the police station, Michael, tracked Gabriel's phone to a warehouse not too far from the one Sarah Blake had been discovered in. Once they arrived at the large brick and metal building silently, they got out of the car, guns at the ready and leaving the car doors open to avoid extra noise. Michael had insisted on coming along. Being Gabriel's brother, he figured he had to keep his baby brother out of trouble. "It was just something an older brother would do, right?" had been the tall, sandy haired man's exact words. Castiel had smiled and nodded, figuring extra hands couldn't hurt. Especially when those hands belonged to the chief of police. 

Michael stood by the door, eyes steely with resolution, and counted down from three inaudibly. He reached out and plowed through the door, knocking it so hard against the wall that Castiel was afraid it broke. The trio burst into the floor of the warehouse, guns raised, muscles tense.

Nothing. 

Michael made the signal for them to search the whole place and both Castiel and the frowning Balthazar nodded. They split into opposite directions, keeping their footsteps as quiet as possible. Castiel made his way up the stairs silently, gun at his side, safety off for a quick release if needed. He licked his lips and gently eased the office door open with his foot, checking every square inch.  Silence of the Lambs taught him well enough: check every corner.   He then moved quickly, gun raised as he stepped into the room. All clear, he thought, starting to lower his arms.

There was a clicking noise and a cold metal circle pressed against the base of his spine. His eyes closed slowly and he exhaled angrily. What the hell had he missed? He'd looked at every corner of the room... Excluding beside the desk and the tiny blind space beside the door. As he exhaled, he breathed two words. "Fork me." 

"Don't move," a voice growled and Castiel gritted his teeth. "Drop the gun."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Castiel mumbled. "The-"

"I don't care. Drop it." 

"Whatever..." Castiel dropped the gun, wincing at the loud clatter it brought. "There. I dropped it."

The cold metal pushed at his back, forcing him into the corner next to Gabriel, who was kneeling with his forehead against the wall. Castiel mimicked the action, eyes catching Gabriel's for a few seconds where they had a short telepathic conversation. 

'You idiot.' 

'You got us into this mess.' 

'Us?' 

'Us.' At that Gabriel gave a twitch of a smile before closing his eyes. 

Seconds after that came the inevitable crashing and shout of Balthazar and Michael rushing into the room, which also brought on enough of a diversion for Castiel and Gabriel to jump up and knock the duo criminals in the stomachs to knock the air out of their lungs. As the masked men doubled over gasping for air, the two detectives kneed their heads hard enough to knock them back up. Castiel caught his, wincing at the feeling of thick, hot liquid trailing down the front of his shirt. He must have broken this guy's nose by accident. 

Somehow he wasn't sorry. 

He grabbed the wrists of the man and twisted him so that they were pinned behind his back painfully, jaw clenched. Michael was reciting the Miranda rights to the "stupid asshats that dared to threaten cops," as Balthazar muttered as Castiel passed him, which made Castiel grin and thank him softly. "There are cuffs in the car!" Balthazar yelled after Castiel, hanging back to gather the guns from the floor where they had all fallen. 

\----

Castiel arrived home a mere hour after he left, having bailed on the paperwork with the excuse of leaving the stove on. Which, of course, wasn't exactly a lie. He had left the stove on, just not unattended. He also took the liberty of texting Dean ' _I'm coming_ ' as he walked, hitting send as he climbed into his car. While he was driving there was a reply.

_ Good. This is weird. _

Castiel grinned and slid his phone back into his pocket, pulling up near the building and parking in the lot across the street. He crossed the street quickly and let himself into the building, starting the trek up to the third floor. Luckily he was able to avoid the old woman who lived down the hall that always questioned him after a long day of work or a quick case or excursion, such as this one. He unlocked the door and slid into the apartment, closing the door and sighing as he leaned back against it slightly. Next thing he knew, Dean was kissing him and pulling away to frown at his shirt. 

"Blood...?" Dean asked, looking back up at Castiel. Castiel nodded slightly, hand brushing through Dean's hair. God, it was good to come home to something other than silence and loneliness. "Yuck."

"It's not mine," Castiel cleared up, seeing the worry in Dean's wandering eyes. He was a mother who had just got her child back from their first day of school, Castiel decided, then saw the even more worried look. "Nor is it Gabriel's. Or Balthazar's. Or Michael's."

"Balthazar?" Dean frowned, following Castiel to the bedroom. "Michael?"

"Balthazar is a fellow detective. Used to be my partner, but he transferred for a while and when he came back I was already stuck with Gabriel." Castiel provided. "Michael is chief and is Gabriel's brother." 

"Oh," Dean nodded from the door, and Castiel felt eyes on him as he shed his jacket and dropped it on the bed. He tugged his shirt off and when he heard Dean's intake of breath knew what he had done. He had exposed his bruises and cuts on his arms and back. Shit. He quickly grabbed another shirt from the closet and slid it on, seeing Dean's frown and those damned eyes as soon as the shirt was on fully. "What happened?" 

"Previous case. I was... the bait, I guess." Castiel licked his lips and shrugged as Dean walked into the room toward him. "They don't hurt that much, really. I'm glad I have them; we caught that asshole. I don't regret anything that helped us get him in prison." Castiel slid his arms around Dean's waist gently, smiling gently down at the man who frowned up at him worriedly. "Bruises and cuts heal, Dean. I'm fine. The only things you should worry about are gunshot and stab wounds." The joke made Dean frown more as he slid his arms around Castiel's neck. "Sorry," Castiel whispered, lips pressing to Dean's forehead, then his nose, then both of his cheeks. He smiled and pulled away when Dean went in for a kiss, teasing him slightly. Dean went in for another and Castiel turned his head slightly, enjoying Dean's exasperated sigh. He tried a few more times before Castiel pulled him closer and kissed him slowly, one hand running up Dean's back. They pulled away slowly as well, noses bumping together, foreheads pressed together. Castiel grinned, a happy sigh leaving his lips. He was rarely truly happy and Dean was bringing that out in him. God, it was perfect. Dean was perfect. Castiel kissed the corner of Dean's mouth again softly, eyes closing for half a second. "So," he started, smiling and pulling Dean closer to him, "how was the soup? Are my skills good?"

Dean laughed, shaking his head slightly. "It was okay," said Dean in a joking tone. "Would have been better if you'd stayed." 

Castiel rolled his eyes and kissed Dean again. "You know I would have if I could have. I lo- like being with you." A smile fluttered across Dean's lips as Castiel looked down, feeling his face heat up. 

"Well, Cas, I lo-like being with you, too." The green eyes Castiel liked so much already stared at him, then darted away after a second. "Should we- uh-"

"Yeah," Castiel mumbled, embarrassed. He looked away and opened his mouth to speak, changing his mind and closing it again. He exhaled sharply and looked back at Dean. "Want to- uh- watch a movie or something?" 

"Is that what the kids call it nowadays?" Dean joked, raising an eyebrow. They had pulled apart in the short awkward moment and Castiel snatched Dean's hand. 

"How would I know? I'm just as old as you are." The duo walked back to the living room, where they fell onto the couch. Castiel was no longer hungry like he was earlier. Having some guy's blood running down your chest definitely makes a difference in your appetite. Castiel picked the remote up off of the table and handed it to Dean with a quick whisper of "Find something good," then headed back into the bedroom to grab his blood stained clothes. He quickly put them in the hot water filled sink, rubbing at the stain for a minute to help it come out. He then left it to soak, drying off his hands and walking back out to Dean. He fell onto the couch next to him, arm sliding around the man's shoulders. As he propped his feet up on the table, Castiel pressed a kiss to Dean's temple and smiled, cheek leaning against the brown cloud that was Dean's hair. 

\----

Castiel woke to an explosion. The TV was turned up halfway, loud as ever. He woke with a start, eyes popping open. He tensed himself so he didn't jump up, feeling someone breathing gently against his chest and shoulder. He felt a small smile creep onto his face. 

Waking up with someone wasn't that bad. Castiel hadn't been out long, but Dean had. Watching Dean nap wasn't half bad either. Dean's face twitched with whatever dream he was having every once in a while. He also snored lightly, and damn it, it was adorable. The stupid guy grunted every once in a while too. Damn this. Damn that guy, damn him. Castiel sure as hell wouldn't mind waking up next to that every morning or every night. He definitely wouldn't mind watching the idiot fall asleep either. Dean had fought it as hard as he could, but eventually, as he rested on Castiel's shoulder, his eyes closed and he yawned one last time before dropping himself into sleep. Damn it, Castiel thought again. This idiot was getting to him and getting to him bad.

 A sigh fell off his lips as he groped around for the remote, finally coming to the conclusion that it was in Dean's hand on his lap. Castiel smiled again and gently pried it out of Dean's hand, pausing when Dean stirred slightly and grunted, nuzzling his face into Castiel's shoulder again. Castiel turned the TV off, deciding Dean was much more interesting than whatever war movie Dean had chosen. He tossed the remote onto the chair across the room, thanking God himself that it landed in the chair without a noise.

 One hand raised to gently brush through the tips of Dean's hair while the others fingers gradually laced with Dean's. A smile tugged at the corners if the sleeping man's mouth, which made Castiel grin. Damn this man straight to hell for setting off those stupid birds in Castiel's chest and stomach and letting bees loose in his brain. Every time Castiel looked at Dean, he felt his judgement start to cloud, and that was a shitty thing to have happen, especially as a detective. Distractions were threats and vulnerabilities. Vulnerability and crime was not a good combination. Distractions and vulnerabilities were meant to be dropped so that the job could be taken seriously. Castiel had decided that years ago, when he'd first decided to become a detective. 

If this were anyone other than Dean, Castiel would have dropped them in a heartbeat. He couldn't with Dean, though. Dean- with his perfect moss eyes, star-spangled nose and cheeks, stupidly beautiful lips, intellect, humor- Dean with his beautiful, stupid, gorgeous, idiotic, amazing self- had drawn Castiel into a trap in only a few days, and had him at gunpoint without a phone call or anything. He was stuck and the only escape was the trigger that Dean refused to pull.

Castiel sighed and felt his hand stop on Dean's neck. His fingers trailed up the man's neck, barely touching. A smile brushed over his own lips again, so small it was barely noticeable or felt. Dean twitched slightly, then rolled his shoulder, then raised a hand to swat at Castiel's. 

"Lea'me 'lone, Sammy," Dean grumbled, burrowing deeper into Castiel's shoulder. Castiel frowned slightly, almost suspiciously. Sammy? Who was Sammy? Was Sammy an ex? Was Dean dreaming of an ex? 

Castiel shook his head slightly. What did he care? Dean was his now, that was what mattered. Castiel felt a sudden need to claim his... boyfriend? Boyfriend sounded good, but it sounded childish. Partner made him think Gabriel, which was definitely not who he wanted to think of. Lover? No, not that far yet... Boyfriend would have to do. 

His hand moved again, to Dean's chin. He smiled and slowly, hesitantly at first, kissed Dean. He just wanted to rouse him from sleep. Castiel kissed him again, finding it uncomfortable that Dean wasn't kissing back. He didn't pull any further away when he whispered "Dean," to try and wake him. He kissed him a little harder than before. "Dean, wake up." 

After a few seconds, Dean opened his eyes in the slightest, a smile on his lips. Castiel kissed him, hard and long, on the lips. 

Dean kissed back almost lazily, one hand rising to bury its fingers in Castiel's hair. A soft groan entered the kiss, making Castiel smile and tighten his arm around Dean. Castiel's eyes opened when Dean pulled away, his chest heaving. When had he lost his breath? Castiel bit the inside of his lip as he looked Dean over, enjoying the sleepy hooded look in his eyes and the way Dean's chest rose and fell as heavily as his own. He swallowed thickly, wishing he could voice how much he loved the taste of Dean's mouth. God, he loved it. 

Dean was staring at Castiel with hooded, shining eyes, red cheeks bringing out the green. His mouth opened as though he was going to speak before closing partway. Castiel could see a little dot of pink tongue between Dean's teeth before the man looked down. A small smirk was barely visible from what Castiel could see, but it still made him laugh softly and grin. Dean's shoulders shook after a second with his own silent laughter. Castiel's forehead rested against Dean's after a second, grin still on his face. "Well, that was fun," he commented, leaning in to ghost his lips over Dean's. "Want a repeat?" 

Dean's smirk came back and Castiel felt his own breath hitch when Dean's fingers scratched gently against his neck. "Hell yeah," Dean practically growled, pressing his lips against Castiel's roughly. 

Castiel kissed Dean back just as roughly, tearing at Dean's lips with his own as he lowered him onto his back on the couch, leaning over the man. Dean's arms snaked around his stomach and pulled Castiel closer, tugging him on top of him. Castiel's legs were on either side of Dean's waist, his hands on the couch by Dean's hair, destroying Dean's lips along with his own composure. A moan slipped into the kiss from his own mouth as Dean's teeth scraped against Castiel's lip and pulled it. Dean's hands were sliding into Castiel's back pockets and Castiel smiled as he kissed wetly from Dean's mouth to his collarbone, not missing an inch, a centimeter, a millimeter of skin in the line he had designated. Salty, soft, unmarked skin rested under Castiel's mouth as he did his best to mark Dean as his own in an easily concealed place, only leaving a small mark in an area where it could be seen. A tiny patch of red would be visible above Dean's collar, and that was exactly how Castiel wanted it. Just enough to keep any potential takers at bay. 

As Castiel's lips ripped at Dean's again, there was a knock on the door. "God dammit," Castiel groaned against Dean's jaw, teeth sinking into the skin there gently. "I'm not answering that. Gabriel can deal with it." When Castiel made his way to Dean's lips to capture a groan, there was another round of knocking. 

"Dear?" came from the other side of the door and Castiel froze against Dean, guilt filling his whole body. "Castiel, are you home?" Castiel felt himself pull away from Dean with a long sigh, dropping his head against Dean's shoulder. 

"Who is that?" Dean whispered. Warm breath ghosted against Castiel's ear and he shivered. 

"It's Mrs. O'Hara from down the hall," Castiel sighed, turning to bury his face in Dean's cheap aftershave scented neck. He inhaled deeply and then pressed a wet kiss against the skin there, somehow enjoying the bitter taste it left on his tongue. 

"Castiel, could you help me?"

"You should go help her," Dean murmured, and Castiel groaned softly against his shoulder. "It's nice, Cas. She probably needs the help too."

"But you're here. I've already been gone for an hour," Castiel pulled away to give Dean his best pleading eyes. 

Dean smirked and pulled a hand out of Castiel's pocket to hit his cheek playfully, as though they hadn't been on the verge of taking their relationship a level up just a minute ago. "I work with third graders, Cas. I'm immune to the puppy eyes. Now go help the woman. Maybe I'll surprise you when you get back." 

Oh, that sweetened the deal. A surprise from Dean? Castiel felt his lips curl into a smile. "Fine. I expect that surprise." He pressed another rough kiss to Dean's lips as he stood, not pulling away until after Dean had sat up. Castiel started toward the door to answer it and help Mrs. O'Hara, who he heard shuffling around outside. Castiel was the only one on the floor who would help her fix things and carry groceries. Everyone else hated helping her because she loved to talk. Halfway to the door, something soft hit him in the back of the head. Castiel turned to grab whatever hit him before it could touch the ground, crouching only slightly to catch the wadded up fabric. He looked up at Dean quizzically when he realized it was his shirt. When had he lost his own shirt during that? He shrugged and caught Dean's wink with a grin, pulling the shirt over his head as he reached the door. 

\----

After Castiel returned from helping Mrs. O'Hara with her groceries and with putting them away, the day was spent in bed with Dean. Nothing more than making out (both of them had a few marks to prove it) and watching television happened, though, and Castiel was oddly relieved. He didn't want to get into that with Dean. Not yet. 

The next morning, Castiel woke to a call. His phone buzzed on the night stand like an impatient bee. 

He grabbed the machine and unplugged it, pressing 'Accept' and raising it to his ear. 

Before he could even get a word out, Gabriel was speaking. "Get down to the river. Now. There's been another murder." 

Castiel sat up with a frown and told Gabriel he'd be there immediately as he stood up. He hung up and tossed the phone on the bed. As he was getting dressed his phone started to ring again. He didn't even look at it when he answered, tugging an arm through his sleeve. He held it with his shoulder and ear as he spoke. "I'm on my way, Gabriel; you don't have to call again. I said immediately." 

"Oh, you're on your way here? I guess I'll have to change my lesson plans," Dean spoke on the other line, voice laced with sarcasm. 

"Hello, Dean," Castiel sighed. "Why'd you call?"

"Just wanted to hear your voice," Dean's voice carried a smile. "Sorry to interrupt something." 

"It's fine," Castiel smiled as he tucked in his shirt. "I'm just getting ready to head down to the river." 

"The river? Did something...?"

"You know I can't tell you," Castiel sighed. "Confidentiality." 

"I know, but it's worth the try." Dean sighed and Castiel heard a soft scratching. 

"What are you doing?" he asked, setting the phone on speaker so that he could tie his tie. 

"Writing out lesson plans for the rest of the week," Dean replied distractedly. "I'm not hanging up until you get in the car." 

"You're obsessed with me," Castiel smirked. "Aren't you?"

"Shut up! I am not." Dean laughed. 

Castiel detected a note of nervousness in Dean's voice. "Are too. I bet you're writing Castiel plus Dean in the margin of your plans as we speak."

"Shut up," Dean squeaked and Castiel laughed. 

"You are!" 

"You said that and made me write your name in the plans!" 

"Oh, so you plan to do me?" Castiel heard Dean's nervous blabbering and laughed. "I'm flattered, Mr. Winchester." 

"Stop it, Cas." A laugh came through the line. "You're insane."

"You're insane as well, Dean," said Castiel as he tightened the tie and pulled on his extra jacket. The other one still needed to be washed more. He grabbed his phone and sighed, turning off speaker and foregoing brushing his teeth. Coffee and mint toothpaste didn't mix well and Castiel needed coffee. "How did you sleep last night?"

"On my side," Dean replied and Castiel rolled his eyes. "I slept fine. Did you?"

"Yeah. You wore me out." He scooped coffee into the filter after filling the water to where he needed it. "That goodnight kiss was intense." 

"Mm," Dean hummed and Castiel heard a rustling like papers were moving. "That it was." Smirking, Castiel pulled a travel cup from the cabinet. 

"Want to try to meet tonight?" The detective was unwilling to be even a day without Dean already. "We could have dinner." 

"Dinner... I like the idea. Let's- oh, hey Ben-" Dean's voice cut off for a second as he spoke. Castiel heard the muffled sound of his voice as he leaned against the counter, then a slightly higher muffled voice. Ben? Must be one of Dean's students... Rustling greeted Castiel again before Dean's voice came back. "Hey, I have to go. I'll text you, okay? Students are coming in." 

"Okay. We on for tonight?" Castiel asked quickly, before Dean could hang up. 

"Yeah, if you can. I'll understand if you can't. Good luck with the criminals." 

"Good luck with the brats," Castiel smiled. "Talk to you later." A beep sounded and Castiel pushed his phone into his pocket. 

He filled the mug and sealed the lid on it after stirring in two spoonfuls of sugar, then grabbed his keys and closed and locked the apartment door behind him. 

\----

Castiel arrived at the scene just in time to find Gabriel walking away from the body. He looked over his partner's shoulder and frowned. "Another woman?"

"Yeah." Gabriel sighed. "Gorgeous one, too. Name was Meg Masters. Around twenty five." 

"Shit," Cas sighed. "How was it..?"

"Drowned, as usual. The eyes were just gone this time. No burn marks, no other marks. Clean removal..." Gabriel cast a look over his shoulder with a shiver. "Damn killer is crazy good." 

Castiel nodded, and ran a hand through his hair. His coffee was snatched out of his hand by Gabriel. Castiel rolled his eyes. "Whatever, take it. I'm already awake enough... Who found her?"

"I did," Gabriel sighed. "Sometimes I stop down here in the mornings. Something seemed suspicious; there was something dark under the water. Pulled her up." 

"Seriously? That's unfortunate." Castiel's hands moved into his pockets as he looked at the form of the girl, laying dark against the tan sand of the beach. "Did you find anything on her?" 

"Just clothes, ID, and a bracelet. From the hospital..." Gabriel hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "They're all with forensics." 

"Good. Any leads?"

"Nah. We should continue checking Jackson's old sites and friends." 


	4. Chapter 4

When five o'clock hit,  Castiel  told Gabe he had to bail on the rest of the day. Dean was expecting him... Hopefully.  Castiel  said goodbye to Gabriel and got in the car, pulling out his phone and texting Dean. 

_ Where do you want to meet? _

_ Harvelle's  Diner? It's a block from my place.  _

_ Sounds good. I think I've been there before. _

_ Really? _

_ On a case. _

_ Oh, so you haven't eaten there? _

_ No. _

_ It's like Heaven. You'll love it. There's an assortment of things on the menu.  _

Castiel  smiled and set the phone down, starting the ignition. He drove to the general area of where he remembered  Harvelle's  Diner to be, surprised when he looked over and realized it was exactly where he thought. He pulled into the small parking lot and stopped the car, looking up first to see if Dean was anywhere. No sight of his boyfriend. 

_ Are you here? _

_ Yeah, I'm inside. Window seat.  _

_ Okay. On my way in. _

The detective shoved his keys and phone in his pocket as he walked inside, looking around slightly.  Castiel  caught sight of a purple shirt sleeve raising from the corner of his eye and looked over to see Dean smiling and waving toward  Castiel . He smiled and walked over to Dean. He slid into the other side of the booth with a soft "Hey." 

"Hey,  Cas ." Dean's smile was wide when he reached across for  Castiel's  hand. "Managed to get off work?" 

"I'm here, aren't I?"  Castiel  grinned, squeezing Dean's hand. "Good day at work?"

Dean rolled his eyes and sighed. "Don't even get me started." 

A smile flew over  Castiel's  lips before he kissed Dean's hand. "Tell me all about it." Thumb moving on the base of Dean's, he looked the man across from him in the eyes. A smile grew on Dean's face as well. 

"Maybe later. I'll just get frustrated if I think about that right now. Now is time to be happy." Dean leaned forward slightly and  Castiel  stole a quick heartbeat of a kiss. 

"Ugh, disgusting," said a female voice from beside them, making  Castiel  turn his head and feel Dean's jump. 

"Excuse me?"  Castiel  asked, frowning at the blonde waitress. "Disgusting?" 

"Yeah," she tilted her head, hands on her hips, "you two. Disgusting."

A familiar anger and sadness weighed down in  Castiel's  chest. "It-"

"You're so lovey-dovey. It's disgusting," she interjected, eyes wide. "I didn't mean you two as in- shit... Sorry. I'm not homophobic or anything. I'm sorry." Her eyes moved to the floor and then to Dean. "What'll it be, Dean-o?" 

Castiel  frowned for a second before looking at Dean, that weight still in his chest. It was building a lump in his throat and reminding him of how he felt when he first realized his own sexuality... Damn it, it hurt. He forced a smile on his face for Dean, who looked concerned, and Dean smiled back slightly. "The usual," Dean said, eyes still on  Castiel's . 

Castiel  paused when she looked at him, then shrugged. Whatever Dean was having couldn't be that bad. "I'll have the same thing as him." 

The waitress nodded once and walked away. Dean's eyes were still on  Castiel  when  Castiel  looked back at him. "What was that?"

"What?"  Castiel  asked, frowning. Please, please don't let Dean get into this. 

"You went on the defense." Dean wetted his lips as he stared at  Castiel  as if he were thinking. "Jo didn't mean anything bad. Believe me, I know... She's got a girlfriend." 

Castiel  tilted his head slightly. "Oh. Now I feel dumb... I really did think she was calling us disgusting for- uh- you know..." He bit his lip and looked away from Dean. God, he was such an idiot sometimes. 

"She wasn't," Dean clarified. "I promise." The grip on  Castiel's  hand tightened, making  Castiel  turn toward Dean. "Come on, happy face. It's a date."

"Yes, it is,"  Castiel  replied calmly, toying with the paper on the pea green vinyl table in front of him. "It is a date." 

"Exactly. So you should smile, be happy. Have fun. Think about yesterday." Dean's voice got softer as he spoke, a smile sneaking into it.  Castiel  felt his own lips curl involuntarily. "That's more like it." 

"Shut up,"  Castiel  laughed. 

A white mug was set down in front of him. "Is Dean rambling again?" Jo asked, filling  Castiel's  cup, then Dean's. "He does that a lot."

"No,"  Castiel  smiled, looking at Dean. "He's just being annoying."

"Ah," Jo smirked, lightly smacking Dean on the side of the head. "He's good at that. Practically mastered in it."

"He could do it professionally,"  Castiel  agreed, grinning. "How does that sound? Drop your job as a teacher. Join those brats- annoy people for a profession." 

"Nah," Dean laughed, "I think I'm good. Better hours and pay in this job." 

They all laughed, and  Castiel  sighed as he sobered slightly, looking up at Jo. "I- uh-" he paused. "Sorry about earlier. I'm kind of defensive about it."

"I understand," she smiled back at him. "I am too, especially with my girlfriend. She's too laidback about it. I understand where you're coming from..." She trailed off, as if asking his name. 

" Cas ."

" Cas ." She smiled and hit her hand against the side of the table. "I'll be back out with the food, boys." 

Castiel  smiled and turned back at Dean, who was grinning at him. "You're a dork," Dean stated, lifting his coffee with one hand. He didn't elaborate at all. 

"You are as well,"  Castiel  agreed, reluctantly taking his hand out of Dean's to grab sugars from the basket on the window side of the table. He ripped them open and poured them in the coffee, feeling Dean's eyes on him as he stirred it with his spoon. "Like watching me?"

"You always take three sugars in your coffee?" Dean asked.  Castiel  nodded. "Hm."

" Hm ?"

"Yes," Dean replied and  Castiel  smiled. He put the spoon in his mouth and then set it back on the napkin, lifting the mug and taking a sip, eyes on Dean's. "I have a question." 

"Go ahead,"  Castiel  said over the rim of his mug.

"This is our third date," stated Dean. After a head tilt from  Castiel  he continued. "You don't kiss on the first date. Do you stick to other etiquette and fuck on the third?"

Castiel  barely swallowed his coffee before he spit it out. He could feel his face heating up from Dean's blunt wording. "I- uh-" he coughed slightly, hand lifting to his mouth. With his eyes closed, he thought to himself that Dean was being rather sudden with this... Damn it,  Castiel  didn't know if he wanted to do this yet or not. A sigh escaped his mouth. The truth was better than a lie. "Sometimes. It depends." 

"Depends on what?" Dean frowned.  Castiel  smiled slightly at his boyfriend. 

"Depends on how the date goes and how the relationship is. I- uh- I'm a pretty bad person. I usually leave right after and never talk to them again if I do... But there's been the occasional exception."  Castiel  licked his lips and set his mug down carefully, eyes on the table. He looked back up at Dean, who was opening his mouth to speak. Interrupting him,  Castiel  spoke. "Yes, you would be one of those exceptions. You definitely would be."

"Good," Dean mumbled, head tilting down. "I hope so." 

"Without a doubt,"  Castiel  lifted Dean's hand again and kissed his knuckles, "an exception." 

Dean grinned and shook his head slightly, lifting his mug again as Jo came toward them with two plates. The smile on  Castiel's  face grew when he saw what was on the plates. Two burgers with all of the toppings you'd expect other than condiments, and heaps of fries. They were set down in front of both men and Jo looked at the two of them. 

"Anything else?"

"Nah," Dean said after a look at  Castiel , "I think we're good. Thank you, Jo."

"No problem," she smiled, sliding the receipt onto the table between them. "Make sure to say goodbye."

Dean smiled at  Castiel , who was looking at him with a grin. "Have I mentioned I like you?"  Castiel  asked, eyes wide. "I honestly wasn't expecting you to be a regular here." At Dean's look,  Castiel  rolled his eyes. "You have a usual, Dean. And your usual? My second favorite food." 

"You're kidding," Dean laughed. "It's mine too. And Ellen makes the best burgers I have ever tasted." 

"It looks like it,"  Castiel  grinned, looking down at the plate in front of him. Dean's hand pulled away from his and he looked up to find Dean putting the top on the burger. He imitated Dean, and when he took his first bite he felt like he was in Heaven. His eyes dropped closed and he felt himself relax slightly. When he heard Dean laugh he swallowed and opened his eyes, pointing at Dean with one finger. "Shut up. These make me very happy." 

After they finished,  Castiel  caught Dean's look and smiled, winking at him. Dean's cheeks turned pink to highlight his freckles as they stood. At the register,  Castiel  reached for his wallet, but Dean smacked his hand down. 

"You paid for the last two, it's my turn." Dean said sternly as he handed over money. Jo was working the register and smiled at both of them, splitting out the tip from the actual cost of the meal. "Tell Ellen hello, okay?" 

"Will do," Jo grinned, turning and shouting over her shoulder, toward the kitchen. "Dean says hello, Mom!"

"Hello, Dean!" came in response from the kitchen and Dean laughed. 

"See you tomorrow, Jo," Dean grinned leaving her with a nod. In the time that they had been in the diner it had filled and emptied. Somehow they had spent an hour and a half talking about anything and everything and picking at their meals. Their fingers were intertwined as they walked outside,  Castiel  holding his jacket and tie on his other arm. In the middle of their talking he had taken them off, realizing he felt stupidly formal for a simple date in a diner. So now he was walking toward his car with Dean, the top two buttons of his own dark gray shirt undone (from the suggestion of Dean, of course), and reluctant to leave. Dean was reluctant to let him go as well, from the looks of it. The closer they got to the car, the slower they walked. When they reached the car, Dean sighed. "I don't want you to go. This felt like barely anything." 

"I know,"  Cas  mumbled, leaning against the door of his car. He reached up and brushed his hand through Dean's hair gently. "I don't want to leave either."

 Dean's eyes were visibly drinking in  Castiel's  lips and stance and every inch of skin they could, finally reaching  Castiel's  eyes. They stayed there for a moment before Dean moved in and pressed his lips to  Castiel's  tenderly, his free hand moving up to curl itself around  Castiel's  jaw and pull him in closer. They stayed like that for a few minutes, lips moving together in a deep kiss,  Castiel's  hand on Dean's ribs, Dean's hand on  Castiel's  jaw, their other hands entwined. Dean slid his arm around Dean's neck and pulled him closer. After a few more minutes like that,  Castiel  pulled away only enough so their lips weren't touching. Dean tried to recapture his lips, but he avoided it with a small smile. "I'll miss you,"  Castiel  mumbled, feeling his lips drag against Dean's slightly when he spoke. It felt strangely exhilarating. Dean stared up at him for a second, eyes sparkling green, before rambling off a sentence so quickly that  Castiel  barely heard it. "What was that?" 

"Do you- uh-" Dean was speaking slower now, eyes closed again. Then he looked up at  Castiel  with those melting eyes and spoke again. "Do you want to come over? I know it's late and we both have work in the morning, but-"

"I'd love to,"  Castiel  whispered, grinning. "I would absolutely love to." Dean smiled and leaned in to kiss  Castiel  again, but  Castiel  avoided it. "Not yet." 

Dean rolled his eyes and tugged on  Castiel's  hand. "Come on, you can leave your car here. It'll be safe."  Castiel  looked at him for a second before nodding and following after Dean. 

They walked for about a block and a half before Dean turned toward a building and jokingly gestured toward it and said, "My humble abode."  Castiel  smiled and followed Dean inside then, up to his apartment. He was ridiculously excited to see what Dean's home looked like. 

When Dean opened the door, it was nothing like  Castiel  expected. A small laugh bubbled out of him when his eyes met the pale yellow vintage flower wallpaper lining the walls of the main room. There was a brown leather loveseat on the wall beside the door, a television across from it, with a light wood coffee table between. The table held three magazines stacked perfectly, a remote on top, and a laptop next to them. The coat rack by the door was hung perfectly on the wall, not even slightly lopsided.  Castiel  stepped into the apartment after Dean, closing the door gently behind him, a grin on his face. 

"It's very cozy,"  Castiel  said, smiling still. Dean took the jacket and tie off of  Castiel's  shoulder and hung them on the coat rack next to his own.  Castiel  bit his lip when he remembered he still had his gun holster on and quickly removed it, holding it up slightly as if asking where he should put it. Dean gestured to the coffee table. After  Cas  set it down, he leaned back up to find Dean inches from him. Smiling widely,  Castiel  grabbed Dean's hips and pulled him close. "You know, I never expected you to have flowery wallpaper in your living room... Or be this organized." 

"I'm just full of surprises," Dean grinned, his arms snaking around  Castiel's  neck. "It's one of my great qualities."

"I'd say neutral."  Castiel  smirked, licking his lips before continuing to speak. "It could be good or it could be bad. You never know." 

"Well, it's good. It's not like I'm a murderer or anything," Dean kissed  Castiel  lightly. 

"How do I know?"  Castiel  frowned slightly, jokingly. "I may have to check, just to make sure you don't have any weapons on your person."

Dean laughed, leaning in closer to  Castiel  to kiss him again. "I'm afraid you might find some," he whispered against  Castiel's  lips, making him raise an eyebrow. One of Dean's arms came away from  Castiel's  neck and he smirked, hitting his own upper arm. "Right here."

Castiel  felt a laugh spill out of him as Dean laughed as well. Their laughter slowly died down and  Castiel  pulled Dean closer. "So, what did you have planned when you asked me up here?"

"I didn't really have anything planned past the asking you to come up here," Dean admitted. Somehow  Castiel  found that adorable. "We could- um- watch a movie? See where it leads?" 

"I like that idea,"  Castiel  brushed his nose against Dean's playfully. A kiss was pressed to his lips again before he could even consider pulling away. "I have a feeling we'll be distracted..." 

Dean chuckled and licked his lips, an action that drew  Castiel's  eyes down and made his heart skip. "If you plan to get through this night-  mmf !" Dean's words were swallowed by a deep, probing kiss from  Castiel .  Castiel's  hands ran up Dean's back slightly before moving down, down, down, latching onto Dean's back pockets. The kiss lasted longer than either of them expected and both forgot to breathe, resulting in them pulling apart gasping for air and grasping each other. Dean stared at  Castiel  for a second, eyes searching his face, and  Castiel  did the same. God damn it, why did Dean have to be so... Oh, god... Lips pressed against his, tearing the paper of his own lips to shreds. Dean pressed in closer, impossibly close, pulling at the buttons of  Castiel's  shirt impatiently. Noses brushed and bumped; lips tore and reddened the others; shirts were shed first. They fell to the ground without a second thought as the duo stumbled over each other toward Dean's bedroom, Dean mostly pushing  Castiel  to the door of the room.  Castiel  moaned against Dean's lips and pushed him into the room, closing the door behind him to make it seem even better, more private, more intimate. Dean stood there, eyes needy as they scoped up and down  Castiel's  marked torso. Dean was a sight himself,  Castiel  decided as he stared at the teacher's torso, heaving breaths of desire and need. He moved forward slowly and hooked his fingers in the belt loops of Dean's khakis, tugging the man close until they were flush against each other.  Castiel  avoided Dean's lips and dropped kisses and bites on all of the skin he had left unmarked the previous day and all of the skin he had claimed as his own as Dean's head fell back, mouth dropping open in a slow groan of  Castiel's  name... God, it sounded beautiful. In the heat of the moment, his name falling from those gorgeous kiss swollen lips, his own wandering the body of his boyfriend...  Castiel  felt at home, somehow. He felt ad though this is how it should be- how it would be- for years, maybe even decades to come. He groaned softly and dropped himself to his knees, hesitantly letting his hands unbuckle Dean's belt and work at the button of Dean's pants. Dean whispered his name and a hand pushed its way into his hair.  Castiel  smiled and took the zipper between his teeth, dragging it down slowly before tugging on his pants to bring them off as well. The smile stayed on his lips as he stood again and kissed Dean while unbuckling, unzipping, and unbuttoning his own slacks and dropping them. Dean grabbed the waistband of  Castiel's  boxers and pulled him toward the bed, turning him so that  Castiel  had his back to the bed, then pushed him down. Dean crawled over  Castiel , peppering his legs and abdomen with kisses and licks, and came to a pause at his lips. 

As soon as all of the clothing was off and discarded to the floor, they lost it. The dark bedroom filled to the brim with desperate grunts, needy moans, and loving whispers from both men, the occasional gasp and shaken, scratched breath breaking through. 

After a while, the two slowed to a stop, both spent on each other.  Castiel's  rushed breath brushed past Dean's lips, his hands on either side of the teacher's head. Dean's fingers brushed against the knob of  Castiel's  spine and his eyes fluttered open, breath as tame as  Castiel's , which is to say not tame at all. Their eyes connected and  Castiel  suddenly felt shaken. He'd just had sex with Dean, but it hadn't been making love or any other form of that phrase, it had been almost pure fucking. There had been moments, yes, where it hadn't felt like that, but now that he thought back on it, it was mostly just unfeeling, 'I need to get this out of my system' fucking.  Castiel's  eyes tore away from Dean's and he ghosted his lips against the man's before rolling off of him and onto the comforter of the bed. They hadn't even bothered with moving anything other than themselves...  Castiel  closed his eyes and took a deep breath, hoping to calm his shallow rapid ones down to normal speed. A soft touch pressed to his chest, followed by one on his shoulder, and  Castiel  gently slid his arm under Dean's body and pulled him slightly closer.  Castiel  almost wanted to apologize, but he couldn't find the words. Instead he lifted his free hand and curled it around Dean's on his chest, their fingers lacing together perfectly. 

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes. The silence was broken by Dean. "Do you want to get up?" he asked softly, and  Castiel  felt his jaw twitch. He was afraid to open his mouth. He didn't know if the feeling of deep sadness and self-hatred was mutual or not and he didn't want to make it mutual by apologizing. "I'll- uh-" Dean paused, his head resting back down on  Castiel's  shoulder. "I'll take that as a no." 

Castiel  felt tears build in his eyes at the tone of Dean's voice. It wasn't its normal scratchy deep tone; it was soft and sad and lonely. After a second  Castiel  pulled his hand away from Dean's and sat up, surprising Dean, who was now sitting up as well.  Castiel  kept his eyes down and barely glanced at Dean. All he saw was his hickey splattered chest. 

It made  Castiel  feel sick. 

"Where's your bathroom?" he whispered, knowing his voice was thick. Dean must have realized as well because his own voice shook slightly as he answered, telling  Castiel  it was the door across the hall from his room. "Thank you." The detective stood, swallowing the lump of emotions in his throat, and stooped to pick up his boxers and slacks on his way out of the room. 

Once he was in the bathroom,  Castiel  felt himself start to shake and felt the tears spill over. He muffled a sob with his hand and leaned his back against the wall, feeling himself shrink. He was disgusting. How could he do that? How could he possibly do that to Dean of all people? Anyone else but Dean and he would have been fine- anyone else. Dean was so nice. He was so caring, so loving, beautiful, golden. He was a saint. 

And  Castiel  mucked it up. He mucked everything up. 

"Dammit," he breathed, wiping his cheeks. "Dammit,  Castiel ." His jaw set and he exhaled shakily. "You can't run away again."  Castiel  stood, quickly but shakily dressed in his boxers and pants again, then started to leave the room. 

He ran into Dean on his way out of the bathroom and briefly remembered he didn't wash the tears from his face as he looked at Dean. Tears were falling down Dean's face as well.  Castiel  started to open his mouth, but Dean shook his head and handed him his shirt that had been torn off earlier. 

"If you're going to leave," Dean whispered, voice still sad and lonely, "then go ahead and leave." 

Castiel  looked at Dean for a few more seconds, watching those green glass eyes look anywhere but at  Castiel's  own blue ones. After his eyes wandered to Dean's shaking lower lip, they dropped to the side. "I'm-" he started, then sighed. His eyes locked on Dean's again. "I'm not leaving unless you want me to. Tell me if you want me to go, Dean, and I will. It's-"  Castiel's  voice dropped to a softer tone when Dean's eyes locked on his. "It's your call."

From the look in Dean's eyes, the feeling of sadness and self-loathing was mutual. 

"I don't want you to leave," Dean whispered after a second, then wiped his cheeks. "I'm just- I'm scared. That was frightening,  Cas ." 

"I know,"  Castiel  whispered. No matter how much he wanted to reach out and hold Dean, he was afraid to. "It was frightening."

"It wasn't what I was expecting. Not from you, at least."

A short, bitter laugh spilled out of  Castiel . "Keep in mind that I've had years of loneliness... I don't think I've ever,"  Castiel  raised his hands and made quotation marks in the air, "'made love.'" 

Dean smirked slightly, one corner of his mouth curling. "I have," Dean sighed, "once. A long time ago, don't worry. It wasn't anything like that. It was... Slow. It was easy, not harmful and soulless. It had something in it, a depth to it, you know?" 

Castiel  nodded, biting his lip. This was so wrong, standing in the doorway of Dean's bathroom with his shirt in his hands, talking about Dean's sex life. That wasn't how it was supposed to be. They were supposed to be laying in bed, talking in soft, loving voices, curled into each other so much that you couldn't tell where one started and the other ended. A soft, broken sigh fell from his lips and he felt tears building again. With a smile he raised a finger to Dean and turned around again, entering the bathroom and closing the door behind him. 

He sat down against the wall again, this time in the dark. Damn him, why couldn't he keep it together? The conversation would have risen at some point. Why couldn't  Castiel  keep himself together right now? He felt that sadness, that anger, pressing down on his heart, pushing it into his stomach and drowning it in acid. Heartless. That's what their previous actions had been. They had been heartless, soulless. Empty. 

An eerie, sad silence fell over  Castiel's  darkness as he stared down at the shirt in his hands, lightly wringing it in his hands. He barely registered the tears rushing down his cheeks and falling on his forearms.  Castiel  wiped his cheeks gently and tried to stop his shaking body. Damn, this had been a trying week. 

Two murders, three dates, eighteen nightmares, and now a heartless consummation with his boyfriend. Great week, right? 

He sobbed out a laugh, then heard Dean knock on the door. " Cas ? I- uh- I'm coming in."  Castiel  did nothing to stop Dean from coming in and turning on the light. "Oh,  Cas ," Dean sighed, and  Castiel  heard the pity in his voice. Beautiful. 

"I don't want your pity, Dean,"  Castiel  spit out, casting a sideways glance at the man that was crouching next to him now. "I'm not one of your students. A sticker and a smile isn't going to make me feel better, and neither will pity. Pity is not the equivalent of a god damn sticker and smile to a grown adult." 

"Whoa, calm down," Dean mumbled, resting a placating hand on the side of  Castiel's  face.  Castiel  grabbed Dean's wrist and lowered it. "Okay, I won't touch you." Dean settled on the floor, facing  Castiel . "You're mad."

"Great deduction skills,"  Castiel  grumbled and rolled his eyes. 

"Shut up," Dean shook his head, a soft smile playing with his lips. It raised  Castiel's  mood a little, but not much, to see Dean smiling. For every step his mood took forward it took four backward. "Why are you mad?"

"I'm mad at myself,"  Castiel  sighed, eyes cast down again. He watched his finger circle around a button, feeling like a teenager. 

"Why?" Dean asked, voice softer and laced with deep concern. 

"Because I can't-"  Castiel  clenched his jaw for a second before looking over at Dean. He had to look at Dean as he said this. "I can't be soft and gentle. I can't make it easy. It's- it's always been heartless for me. I can't just suddenly make it mean the world and give the moon in a few minutes. I can't make it slow and loving."

"You can't give it depth," Dean mumbled, and  Castiel  nodded. 

"On the nose, Dean-o."  Castiel  closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. "I'm sorry that I can't make it right. I've been trying to figure out what to say, how to word it, this whole time. You gave me exactly the words to use. I'm sorry that I can't make it right and actually make love, Dean, okay?"  Castiel  was truly sorry. 

" Cas , calm down. It's okay." 

"No, it's not." Their eyes met and Dean sighed, hand lifting to  Castiel's  cheek again.  Castiel  bit his tongue and looked away, eyes darting to the side. He was afraid to touch Dean. "I'm sorry." 

" Cas , stop apologizing," Dean's voice grew stern. "It's not like it was the worst sex I've ever had. It's definitely high up there." A smile crossed Dean's face. "I mean, you are pretty hot. I wouldn't pass you up in a heartbeat if you offered yourself up." 

A smile tugged at  Castiel's  lips. "Whatever," he mumbled. "You're insane, Dean." 

Dean laughed and leaned toward  Castiel .  Castiel  smiled a little more and looked away from Dean again. Head down, he felt a hand brush against his chin and tilt his head back up. Lips pressed against his gently, but  Castiel  didn't return the kiss. He leaned into it, yeah, but he didn't return it. He was too afraid that Dean would break apart like a porcelain doll. However, Dean pulled away looking more hurt than ever. 

"Come on," Dean whispered, brushing his hand through  Castiel's  hair and attempting a reassuring smile that turned out shaky. "Let's go to bed. We can sleep in the same bed, right?"

Castiel  licked his lips and then nodded, standing with Dean. Dean lead him into the bedroom again, where the comforter was a wad on the floor far away from the bed, like Dean had thrown it. Dean rooted through a drawer for a second before mumbling an 'Aha!' and pulling out a pair of green pajama pants.  Castiel  raised an eyebrow when Dean held them out to him. "You're kidding,"  Castiel  stated softly, a confused look on his face. Dean only blinked in response, which made  Castiel  take them anyway. He unbuckled and undid his pants for the second time that night, dropping them and tugging them off of his feet. The pants fit almost perfectly, only pooling a little bit around his ankles. Dean had changed into a normal t-shirt and flannel pants in the time it had taken  Castiel  to change into the one pair of pants. Dean tossed a shirt to  Castiel , who pulled it on without paying attention to what it was. He squinted at Dean's grin and looked down, realizing he was wearing an old AC/DC shirt that was a little too big for him. A grin tugged at his lips and pulled his lips apart. He looked back up at Dean to find him grinning more and sighing in what seemed like relief. 

"Finally," Dean mumbled, "a grin. I like your grin." 

"I like your smile as well, Dean,"  Castiel  replied, wadding his clothes up slightly and throwing them at the foot of the bed. Dean reached out and caught  Castiel's  hand to pull him close so quickly that  Castiel  had to brace himself by catching Dean's shoulder. He didn't break... Wow.  Castiel  felt a smile cross his face again as he let his hand run across Dean's shoulder, to his spine, then down. "It's still kind of early."

"That it is," Dean smiled at  Castiel , one hand on his shoulder, the other on the back of his neck. "Do we really want to lay down already?"

"I don't know,"  Castiel  leaned in close to Dean for a hesitant kiss. "What do you want to do?" 

"We could finally watch that movie," Dean suggested, kissing  Castiel  again. "But laying down would be kind of nice." 

"Why don't we try the movie, and if we get tired we can head to bed?"  Castiel  whispered, his nose barely brushing against the tip of Dean's as he tilted his head slightly. "Does that sound good?" 

"It sounds awesome," Dean replied, his hand running down  Castiel's  arm and curling around  Castiel's  hand. "Let's go. You can choose the movie." 

Castiel  chuckled, silently hoping Dean had his favorite movie. 

\----

Dean didn't have his favorite movie.  Castiel  dramatically chastised Dean, who rolled his eyes and raised his hands in self defense while protesting that not having the newest Superman movie was not a good reason to "quit your job and become a hermit, since you've obviously been living under a rock for many years." It finally ended in  Castiel  settling on Batman Begins, grudgingly handing it over to Dean, who started the DVD player and changed the input on the TV while  Castiel  plopped onto the loveseat. The mini leather couch was actually really soft- a lot softer than  Castiel  had expected, at least. Dean took a seat next to him, as close as he could possibly be without actually sitting in  Castiel's  lap, and hit play on the remote. He set it on the stack of magazines, then leaned back and against  Castiel .  Castiel  instinctively slid his arm around Dean's shoulders and pulled him slightly closer, not thinking about it until Dean's head rested on his shoulder.  Castiel  let his arm ease up a little, still kind of afraid. Breakable objects weren't  Castiel's  specialty. He licked his lips and sighed softly, a smile playing at his lips despite being kind of sad. Damn this man. 

Within the first ten minutes of the movie, Dean had shifted and dropped his head onto  Castiel's  lap, his legs dangling over the arm of the small sofa.  Castiel  found this adorable- really adorable. As he watched, Dean swung his foot slightly, his toes moving as though he had a song stuck in his head.  Castiel  propped his own feet up on the coffee table, catching Dean's eyes when the man looked up at him and smiled.  Castiel  leaned his head on his palm, elbow on the arm of the loveseat, and winked at Dean, who breathed a short laugh before lifting a hand and trailing a finger down  Castiel's  jaw and looking back at the television screen. 

When the movie was an hour in,  Castiel  was struggling to keep his eyes open. Little did he know, Dean had already fallen asleep, head in  Castiel's  lap, feet dangling over the edge of the couch.  Castiel's  heavy eyelids dropped closed, and he felt his own expression slacken as he fell into sleep, hand pushing on his cheek to hold him up. 

\----

Castiel  was woken up to a small shaking, his eyes opening and his body going into alert fight mode. A familiar, albeit tired, laugh greeted him and he relaxed slightly. Dean kissed his cheek and grabbed both of his hands, helping to pull him up from the couch. 

" Wha'time ?"  Castiel  asked softly and groggily, tailing after Dean into the bedroom. 

"Midnight," Dean told him gently, pulling back the sheets for  Castiel . He pushed the detective down onto the bed, then walked around to the other side. "Lay down,  Cas . You should be sleeping."

"If I should be sleeping,"  Castiel  mumbled, moving to lay down and cover himself with the sheet, "why did you wake me up?"

"Because I couldn't carry you," Dean stated, dragging  Castiel  closer to him with a small rustling.  Castiel  registered that that was Dean's favorite sound and smiled slightly, his head finding a pillow in Dean's shoulder.

 "Go to sleep, angel."

"Angel,"  Castiel  sighed as he started to fall asleep again. He threw his arm around Dean, a smile settling on his face again. "I like that. I like you too, human."

"Human?" Dean laughed slightly, his voice lulling  Castiel  further toward sleep. "Why human? You're an angel."

"Because, that way I can be your guardian angel,"  Castiel  explained, yawning. "Sleep sounds nice right now."

"Sleep, then, guardian angel. You can take a bit of time off from watching over me." 

\----

Castiel  woke a few hours later from a nightmare, clinging to a sleeping Dean and breathing heavily. He let up on his grip and switched to holding the sheet, biting back a sob. 

Every night. Every god damn night, no matter what happened, he had these nightmares. There were the few occasions where they left him alone, but that wasn't the case tonight, on the one night he wanted them to leave him alone. This one had been bad, though. He'd dreamt of his parents' deaths, as usual, but he'd stood and run after the killer instead of sitting there on the floor, screaming. 

When he'd caught up with the killer and managed to tackle him and bring him to the ground, it had been himself.  It had been the older version of himself that killed his parents in his nightmare, but it got worse. In surprise,  Castiel  had leapt off of himself and the next thing he knew, he was older and begging for Dean's life. Dean was being held at gunpoint by  Castiel  himself, crying and terrified.

Dean had been telling  Castiel  not to do it, to just let him die. But yet,  Castiel  had begged. He had pleaded for himself to take his own life, to leave Dean alone, to turn the gun around and shoot him instead... Nothing worked. As soon as the gun had exploded with the noise of twenty of them,  Castiel  had woken.

His eyes strayed to Dean and a shaky sigh fell off of his lips. What time was it? He looked over Dean's sleeping form to see if there was an alarm clock on the table, but there wasn't. He sighed and fell back down, head on his boyfriend's shoulder again. As Dean slept,  Castiel  silently calculated the length of each breath and counted each breath Dean took. The action was oddly soothing to the shaken detective. Eventually Dean let out a soft groan and stretched slightly, his arm, which had been under  Castiel  all night, lifting a little.  Castiel  smiled and sat up so Dean could stretch more, figuring he needed it. After all, his arm had to be asleep. There was no way it could have stayed where it was all night and not become pins and needles.  Castiel  watched Dean stretch, appreciating the expanse of freckled light skin that was visible from where the sheets had wadded up down at Dean's hips to where Dean's t-shirt rested on his chest, also pushed and wadded up from sleep. Before  Castiel  registered what he was doing, he had leaned down and pressed a small kiss right above Dean's belly button. A chuckle came from Dean, who immediately reached over to run his own hand down  Castiel's  back. 

" Wha's  that for?" Dean asked softly, voice like rocks sliding against each other. 

"Just a good morning,"  Castiel  mumbled, leaning over again. "Appreciating your body." He pressed a small kiss to Dean's jaw, then another to Dean's lips.

"I  wouldn'min ' a  lil ' more ' ppreciation ." Dean laughed, leaning into the kiss. 

"Of course you wouldn't."  Castiel's  hand ran against Dean's side lightly. "I know you wouldn't. However, it's a Tuesday and we both have work."

"We have time," Dean whispered against  Castiel's  lips, suddenly speaking well. The sudden articulation was probably thanks to  Castiel's  kiss against his pulse point. "Wait-" Dean turned slightly from his laying position and grabbed his phone from the table, hitting the power button. It was 5:45. "We have time," he repeated, tossing the phone back onto the table and sat up. 

"You might,"  Castiel  grinned, taking in the sight of Dean's freshly-woken self. His mousy hair was mussed, sticking up in random places. His t-shirt was wrinkled and crumpled, hiked up just a little bit after sitting up, so only a short amount of skin showed now. The light gray sheets pooled around Dean's hips and covered his legs. "But I don't,"  Castiel  finally continued, eyes meeting sleepy green ones. "I'm sorry." 

"Don't apologize," Dean sighed, then yawned, making no attempt to cover it. "C'mon, at least have coffee with me first..."

"Fine,"  Castiel  sighed the word dramatically, then grinned at Dean, who was moving to get up. "Wait! Sit down again?"

Dean frowned and sat down again in the same spot, staring at  Castiel .  Castiel  smiled and looked Dean over again, registering the look and position and every wrinkle and freckle on Dean. He shook his head slightly and leaned towards the teacher, kissing him softly. Dean kissed back enthusiastically. "I'm already missing you," Dean grumbled as he stood. "This is so not fair."  Castiel  stood with him this time, grabbing his hand as they walked out of the room. 


	5. Chapter 5

The day started normal.  Castiel  woke up in his own bed, made his own coffee, got ready for work while drinking his way through four cups of coffee, then spoke to Dean on the phone for a little bit as he walked out to his car, just a "Good morning," and a "Have a good day." Simple. 

When he got to the station, it was chaos. Everyone was rushing about, hurriedly fixing things up, re-filing, restocking...  Castiel  somehow (He couldn't remember how.) reached his desk and looked at Gabriel, who was leaning back in his seat and watching  Castiel  and the chaos behind him. 

"What the hell is going on?"  Castiel  asked, leaning forward so that Gabriel could hear him. 

"Boss is  comin ' to town," Gabriel replied, propping his feet up on his desk beside his computer. "I don't know why everyone is freaking out so much. Everything was fine the way it was before." 

"Oh,"  Castiel  laughed slightly, leaning back slightly. Why hadn't he thought of that before? They had monthly 'inspections', at least that's what Michael called them, and the office always got like this when they happened. It eventually became amusing to  Castiel , who kept his desk in order, but that was mostly due to the fact that he was barely ever at the station. He and Gabriel were the most efficient detectives on the force, so they were always out. The partners sat back in their chairs and watched the disasters ensue around them, every once in a while reaching out to catch files or coffee mugs before they hit the floor. 

They also checked their previous files on Jackson and similar cases, along with the new case files of the murders of Sarah Blake and Meg Masters, after the chaos died down. As they flipped through the files,  Castiel  noticed one continuous feature. 

The women were all either engaged, married, or in a serious, long-lasting relationship. How had he not realized this earlier? Of course, there was the occasional, non-committal male in the mix, but that didn't matter. Raphael Jackson had admitted to doing that to throw the police off when  Castiel  had been taken and tied up on a warehouse floor next to a pool of water. However,  Castiel  hadn't noticed the link between the women. 

He plucked the file on Masters out of Gabriel's hands and laid it on the desk with the other ones, tapping the people the five women that had been murdered had been in recent communication with. He then looked up at Gabriel. 

"See any connection?"  Castiel  grinned, slamming Jackson's file down in the center of the files. He then pointed at Raphael's previous relationships or communications. "He was in a relationship- married. She cheated on him, remember? She was the first victim."  Castiel  pointed to the case file of Cassandra Jackson. "All of the other girls? They were in committed relationships. We've got our connection. If they're a true copy-cat killer, they'll know this and will stick to it. Maybe we can set someone up? Do a stake out, keep our eyes on a club or something. Maybe those victims..."  Castiel  looked down at the files, flipping through a few of them to check his idea. Gabriel stared at him like he was crazy;  Castiel  could feel the stare. He knew it well. "Aha! All of the women had gone to clubs the night of being taken. They were probably going to cheat with Jackson!" 

"Nice lead," a voice said from behind  Castiel . It was a voice that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end despite being heard monthly. "That could definitely be a helpful one. Good to see you,  Castiel ."

"And the same to you, sir,"  Castiel  turned in his chair, catching Lucifer's eye. A smile spread on his face. "How have you been?"

"I've been well, thank you for asking," the tall, worn out man replied. Nick Lucifer Milton was his name, and he was the head of the state's police. He liked to visit this office in particular because-

"Luci," Gabriel said all too loudly and sarcastically. "Brother." 

"It's Nick, Gabriel," he grinned, but hugged his brother anyway. They pulled apart and headed into Michael's office. 

The group of brothers had all gone into the police business, all in different high ranks. Michael was the chief of Kansas City Police, Gabriel was a detective, and Lucifer (He preferred Nick, but everyone called him Lucifer anyway.) was the head of state police. Successful was every Milton's middle name.

Castiel  sighed and pulled out his phone while the brothers visited. He leaned his chin on one palm while he texted Dean quickly. 

_Dinner tonight?_  

The couple had been meeting for dinner every other night lately, taking turns choosing places. Last time had been cheap and simple- Dean had chosen to just stop at a food truck and walk through the park. The dates kept getting simpler and simpler, yet longer. They often spent hours in each others company, rambling on about books, their day at work, and anything else they could imagine to speak about. 

_ Of course. It's your turn.  _

Castiel  smiled and tapped out a short reply. I'll find a place. He put his phone away after a second and started to review the case files again, rereading about Raphael's wife and child. His fingers raced under the lines as he read them, then reread them, then moved to the first murder- second- third- fourth-

"Excuse me?" 

Castiel  looked up, finding a tall man standing behind him. He blinked in shock for a second, then shook his head slightly. "If you're here to get tip money or to turn yourself in- or anything of that nature, really- you need to talk to the woman at the front desk. I know she's barely ever there, but-"

"I'm looking for Nick," the man interrupted.  Castiel  opened his mouth in an "Oh," sort of way and smiled. "He said he'd be quick and it's been-" the man checked a watch on his wrist- "twenty minutes. Couldn't sit in that damned cramped car of his anymore." 

That was when  Castiel  noted the man's height with a short breath of a laugh. "I can see why. He's talking with his brothers in the chief's office. If you'd like to sit down again, you can take Gabriel's chair. It pisses him off and, damn, is it fun to piss him off."

The man laughed and shook his head. His long hair flopped slightly, making  Castiel  smile. "I'm good. I've been sitting for way too long." 

Castiel  laughed and turned his chair around. "Well, I'm definitely not letting you stand there without anyone to talk to for however long they're in there. God knows it could be half an hour more." He looked up at the man, then smirked. "I'll get Gabriel's usual questions out of the way. What's your name?"

The guy smiled, hands shoved in his jeans pockets. "Sam Singer," he replied. "And you are...?"

" Castiel  Collins. Where are you from, Sam?"

"Lawrence, Kansas." 

"Not too far from here, huh?"

"Not at all."

"What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a lawyer. Recently got out of school at Stanford." 

"Recently?"

"Yeah, it was a few years ago. I'm still making my way up the chain, but I'm closing in."

Castiel  laughed at that. He could tell Sam was a good guy already. He'd have to pass the message on to Gabriel. "Okay, two more questions."

"Shoot," Sam nodded, indicating for  Castiel  to continue.

"One- how do you know Lucifer- I mean, Nick? How do you know Nick?"

Sam laughed slightly, almost nervously.  Castiel  smirked slightly at the blush that rose on Sam's cheeks. "I- uh- I'm not-"

Castiel  laughed, covering his mouth quickly at Sam's bewildered expression. "Sorry-" he coughed slightly, the word cut short by another laugh. "Sorry. I understand." 

"You do?"

"I was the same way for a while,"  Castiel  admitted with a grin. "Don't worry about it. Somehow, everyone here is pretty accepting." 

Sam smiled gratefully at  Castiel . "You know, you're not that bad. I wouldn't mind going on a date with you an- Shit, you do have someone, right?"

Castiel  laughed again. "Yeah, I do. I think he'd get along with you and Lu- Nick, as well. Maybe we could set something up?"

"Maybe. We'll be in town all week, so..."

"That sounds great. I have a date with my boyfriend tonight... Maybe you two could join? We could double date." 

"I'll ask Nick."

"What will you ask me?" Lucifer asked from behind  Castiel , and  Castiel  smirked and looked at Sam. 

"Oh,  Castiel  asked us out tonight. A double date." 

Lucifer raised an eyebrow at  Castiel , then shrugged. "Let's do it. It sounds fun. After all, Cassie here is a fun guy."

"It's not Cassie, Luci."

"It's not Luci, Cassie."

"I could go on with you about this for years."

\----

"I don't want to do this," Dean complained to  Castiel  for the hundredth time that night. "I want to be alone with you, angel." 

"And we will be later,"  Castiel  promised. "But it's nice.  Lucif \- Nick is a nice person, Dean." 

"Yeah, but-"

"And so is Sam."

Dean sighed and looked down at their intertwined fingers before picking up his beer again and taking a long drink. 

As Dean drank,  Castiel  looked at the door to see two familiar figures coming in. He smiled and raised his hand to wave to them both, showing them where they were. Sam raised his hand in response.

Then Dean turned around. 

The grip on  Castiel's  hand loosened and dragged  Castiel's  attention from the now stilled Sam to his boyfriend, who looked like he was about to cry. He watched Dean's jaw tighten, then watched as Dean yanked his hand out of  Castiel's  and glared at him for a second, like he was trying to find the worst words to say. Dean then stood up and stormed out of  Harvelle's  Diner without a word. 

Castiel  stared after him in shock, only barely seeing Sam's turned head and pained expression. Lucifer, however, was staring at Sam in concerned fascination. With a sigh,  Castiel  stood and walked over to Lucifer and Sam. "I'll go talk to him. I don't know what this is. I'll be back. Feel free to order." He managed a weak smile, concerned as hell, and watched Lucifer walk the stunned Sam to the table before heading outside. 

He closed his eyes for a second once outside, letting the weight in his chest die down. He'd done something wrong to Dean yet again. What a surprise. 

After a second a loud bang distracted him from his calming session and he started toward it, hands in his pockets. The alley. That's where it came from. He hurried into the alley and sighed at what he found. Dean was slamming his foot against the dumpster of the diner until he just stopped and slammed his foot down on the ground again. His face turned toward the sky with his eyes closed. 

Slowly,  Castiel  approached Dean. "Dean?" he asked softly, seeing the shine on his boyfriend's cheek. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Dean inquired, his voice tight and bitter. "You didn't know. No one here knows,  Cas ."

"Know what, Dean?"  Castiel  continued to walk toward Dean, eventually coming toe to toe with him. He raised on hand to wipe at Dean's cheek, but Dean gently swatted it away. 

"I'm pissed; it's best if you don't try to touch me." Dean's voice was still acrimonious. "Sam. No one knows about Sam."

"What about Sam?"

"He's my brother,  Cas . When he left for college, our family had a falling out. My dad told him to never come back, as did I. Twelve years ago,  Cas , that was twelve years ago." Dean's face crumpled.  Castiel  bit his lip. God, the need to hold Dean right now was aching in his arms and in his chest. "I haven't spoken to him since and we used to be close as hell. That's why I'm pissed and sad and-" He broke off, his face being pressed against  Castiel's  shoulder by a tight hug. His arms lifted slowly as he started to cry, a sob breaking into  Castiel's  coat. 

They stood there for a minute,  Castiel's  lips pressed into Dean's hair, whispering soothing words as the man cried against his shoulder.  Castiel's  hand brushed down Dean's back slowly, then back up. "It'll be okay, Dean. He's your brother, after all, he's obligated to forgive you." A smile formed on Dean's lips. "Ah, that's better."

"Whatever," Dean mumbled, his arms still around  Castiel . "Can't we just go home? I don't want to deal with this." 

"You'll have to do it at some moment. Sam already knows you're here." 

"Yeah, but now? Do I have to?" 

"Yes, Dean, you have to." 

Dean sighed and pulled away from  Castiel's  shoulder, wiping his nose and cheeks.  Castiel  grinned and wiped the remainder of the tears off of Dean's cheeks, then kissed them lightly. "Come on." He held his hand out for Dean to take. 

Once inside, Dean slid into the booth first.  Castiel  hid his smirk at the choice, realizing Dean was making  Castiel  trap him in so he couldn't back down.  Castiel  made eye contact with Lucifer, who raised his eyebrows in a sort of 'Did you know about this?' way.  Castiel  minutely shook his head, squeezing Dean's hand. Lucifer sighed and nodded. 

Dean and Sam both just stared at each other, both looking like they were trying to find the words to say but just couldn't. They couldn't figure out what was going through their minds. It was driving them crazy. 

" Heya , Sammy," Dean finally ground out, eyes still on his brother's. "How've you been?"

"Good." Sam replied, voice clipped. "And you?"

"Good, good; that's good." Dean sighed and  Castiel  and Lucifer made eye contact again. Both shared the same look of torture. "So... I'm sorry." 

"Excuse me?" Sam asked, looking up at Dean fully now. "You're what?"

"I'm sorry, Sam. I'm sorry for acting like Dad. I know now how horrible of a decision that was." Dean sighed. "I'm sorry. Please don't make me say it again."

"Oh, I heard you the first time," Sam smirked at Dean. "I just wanted to hear you say it again."

"Bitch," Dean rolled his eyes.

"Jerk," Sam replied, and both brothers grinned at each other. 

Jo arrived at the table with plates lining her arms, setting two burgers in front of Dean and  Castiel , who thanked her, and salads in front of Lucifer and Sam. She stood there for a second, surveying the table, and then shook her head. "You're all disgusting. Seriously? Matching meals?" Dean and  Castiel  laughed.

"Well, it fits us, doesn't it?" Dean asked, then frowned. "I didn't order and neither did  Cas ."

"Tall guy here ordered for you," Jo shrugged. "Plus whenever you come in here with  Cas  you both order the same thing, so..." 

Castiel  laughed softly, turning back to Dean to find him staring at Sam. Sam shrugged, eyes wide. "You're an idiot, Sammy," Dean said fondly.  Castiel  watched Lucifer laugh, almost incredulously. He didn't think he'd ever seen Lucifer laugh. 

"I told him the same thing when he did it," Lucifer chuckled, catching Dean's eye. "By the way, I'm Nick. I bet  Castiel  introduced me as Lucifer." 

"He's trying to stick with Nick," Dean replied, popping a fry in his mouth. He spoke around it. "He's having a hard time, though. I've definitely gotten used to hearing Luci-Nick." 

\----

Dean swung  Castiel's  hand happily as they walked down the sidewalk in the dark. It made  Castiel  smile; Dean had never swung his hand like this before. His boyfriend was definitely in a good mood. In return, it made  Castiel  feel on top of the world. He honestly believed that he had never felt this good in all of his life. His chest felt free of any weight and his body felt light. He felt like a cloud. 

Castiel  suddenly understood the expression of being "on cloud nine." 

He didn't want the night to end, either. If the night ended, the joy ended, and the weightlessness ended. 

On a whim,  Castiel  looked at Dean and stopped. He met Dean's eye when Dean turned to ask him what he was doing, and smiled. "Let's walk around. It's a Friday night, you don't have to work tomorrow. We can go for a walk in the park." Dean's eyes reflected the stars, and, damn, if that didn't make  Castiel's  heart flutter even more than should be possible. He felt his own shoulders relax slightly as he looked at the constellations in Dean's eyes. 

"Yeah," Dean finally said, and all Castiel could think was about how well that rough voice matched with his softened, happy features. "That sounds perfect, Cas." Castiel smiled and pulled Dean close slowly, kissing him lovingly in the middle of the surprisingly empty sidewalk. Dean kissed him back, one hand rising to curl around his shoulder. They pulled away slowly and Castiel registered Dean's happy sigh and the soft brushing of Dean's thumb against a particularly soft, sensitive spot on the nape of Castiel's neck. "We can take a shortcut through the alley. The park is only a few streets down from there..." 

"Wonderful," Castiel sighed, unsure of which he was talking about- Dean or the shortcut. His hand drifted up Dean's back and into his hair, curling around the back of his head lightly before he kissed him again. 

Dean smiled against his lips and pulled away, tugging on Castiel's hand as he did. They walked toward the alley, Castiel tripping after Dean, who seemed all too eager for just a walk in the park. Castiel laughed when Dean pulled him into the alley and kissed him lovingly again in the darkness, still stepping forward. Soon enough, Castiel's back was against the wall and Dean was pressed against him, hands toying with Castiel's shirt collar gently. Castiel grinned and reached up to settle his hands on Dean's rib cage, his thumbs tracing along a ridge slowly. 

And then Castiel felt a weight settle in his chest when yells came from the sidewalk. 

"Fuckin' queers!"

"Go fuck somewhere else!"

"Faggots!"

The couple pulled apart to see a group of three walking toward them. Light shed on them and Castiel noticed two of them had teardrops by their eyes, and all three had the same tattoo. The tattoo of a local gang. The same gang Castiel had been in the area investigating when he had first gone to Harvelle's Diner.

"Leave us alone," Dean replied calmly, stepping away from Castiel. Castiel tried to get a word in to Dean, to tell him that he needed to be careful and watch his words. "We weren't bothering you."

"You were bothering us by just existing," the middle one said. Castiel recognized him. He'd recently gotten out of jail. 

"Well, we can't exactly stop that. Can we, babe?" Dean's voice was laced with sarcasm and he looked at Castiel. Castiel managed a small smile and tried to convey his message of caution through a look. He shook his head. Dean looked back at the gang members and shrugged. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we were heading to the park."

Dean reached out to grab Castiel's hand and walk him past the members, but he was taken to the ground before he could even touch Castiel's coat. 

It was all Castiel could do to breathe as Dean was kicked and punched. He felt his jaw drop and his eyes widen. His heart sped up to a million beats per second. Then it stopped as he remembered something. He was a member of the police force. He reached for his gun, the one that was normally hooked on his belt, only to find it wasn't there. Damn him for dropping it off at home on this one night! He fumbled to find his badge, checking every pocket on himself before reaching into his coat and producing it. 

After another second of fumbling, almost dropping it, he got it flipped open and held out. He stared at the members of the group, and with more calm than he felt inside, spoke. "Leave him alone." 

The one who had been in the middle looked up first, his eyes widening slightly. Then he laughed to cover up that barely there expression of fear that Castiel would have missed had it been any darker. "A cop? A gay cop?"

All three started laughing, but at least it distracted them from hurting Dean. Castiel glanced down for half a second and swore he saw blood. It made his stomach turn and made him start to quake with anger. "Stop laughing," he barked, putting the badge away. He took out his phone. "I know for a fact one of you, if not all of you, has recently gotten out of jail." His eyes connected with the one he was speaking of, a smile curling his lips at the blatant fear on his face now. "I have the number of the department on speed dial, and I have cuffs in one of my pockets. Would you prefer a warning or would you like for me to call the parole office and let them know about this?"

The gang members stuttered.

"Let him up," Castiel ordered, and the members all slowly backed off of Dean as Castiel stepped forward. He saw one of the poised to run and glared at him. "Don't even try it." 

Castiel stooped to help Dean up, his arm circling around Dean's waist to help hold him up. "Are you okay?" he asked in a whisper, surveying the damage. The most he could see was a bloodied nose and a few bruises. 

Dean winced when he stood, but nodded. Castiel then looked back at the gang members, who were all standing next to each other and exchanging glances. "I'm leaving you a warning, but that's it. You're damn lucky, you assholes. If I so much as hear of you in any conversation pertaining to a crime or see you in the vicinity of a crime, you're dead meat. Don't think I will forget your faces, and do not think I am lying. Do I make myself fucking crystal?" The trio nodded and Castiel stared at them all for a second, knowing his eyes were frozen, then waved his hand as a dismissal. 

Attention turned to Dean. Castiel felt his eyes go from cold to worried as he helped a limping Dean back to the sidewalk and a few buildings down. He helped him up the stairs to his apartment and dug the keys out of Dean's pocket to unlock the door. Once inside, he threw the keys on the table and helped Dean to the loveseat, when Dean mumbled something incoherent as he plopped down with a wince. Castiel looked at Dean for a minute, feeling himself quaking in his spot as Dean leaned his head back against the cushions of the sofa, his breath seeming labored. Green eyes dropped closed, and Castiel started to panic. 

"No," he breathed, gently shaking Dean's leg. "Don't fall asleep. You might have a concussion, falling asleep with one could be bad. Stay awake, Dean, just for a while. Just until I can check," Castiel met Dean's eyes. "Okay?" 

"Okay," Dean coughed after a second, and Castiel smiled slightly. "Okay, fine. Just hurry, please. I'm exhausted." 

With a nod, Castiel stood up again and quickly got a wash rag from the bathroom and wet it with warm water. He brought it back to Dean and sat down on the edge of the coffee table. Dean took the rag slowly, lifting it up to his nose and wiping softly at the blood. Castiel watched Dean for a second in concern before sighing and leaning forward, elbows on his knees. "What's your name?" he asked softly. 

Dean took a second to reply. "Dean Winchester."

"I mean your full name."

A smile toyed with Dean's lips. "Dean Michael Winchester."

"Where do you live?"

"Here," Dean replied. A grin spread across his lips, accompanied by a wince from the bruise on his cheek. "Kansas City."

"What's your profession?"

Dean was getting snappier at answering the questions. "I'm a teacher. Third grade."

"How many-"

"Twenty-five." 

Castiel was allowed to finish his next question. "Do you have any siblings?"

"No," Dean replied, eyes hooded as he looked into Castiel's eyes. His voice was laced with comedy. 

Castiel laughed and shook his head slightly. "Okay, so you don't have a concussion. Good." A relieved sigh fell off his lips as his eyes opened again. "Good. Are you still tired?"

Dean shook his head slightly. "No," he replied, voice extremely scratchy. One of the guys must have gotten him in the throat... Castiel clenched his jaw to keep in the anger. "Not really. I definitely wouldn't say no to being carried to bed, though, Detective Collins." 

Castiel raised an eyebrow. Dean only ever called him that when he was- oh... Oh no. Castiel grinned and leaned forward to kiss Dean's nose gently. "Not tonight, Dean." 

Dean frowned up at him. "C'mon, Cas," he pouted. "Your voice in the alley was hot. You were all dominant and-"

"Dean," Castiel sighed, shaking his head. "It'll hurt you more." 

"I can take it," Dean replied with confidence. 

Castiel looked at Dean chidingly and shrugged slightly. His hand curled around Dean's and he helped Dean stand up, walking him into the bedroom. He saw the smile playing with Dean's lips and smirked to himself at what he was about to prove. Once in the bedroom, Dean closed the door and reached out to Castiel. With a wince, Dean slid his arms around Castiel's neck and pulled him closer, face falling against Castiel's neck to leave a few kisses in select spots, the spots that Dean had recently discovered made Castiel into a mess. Castiel squirmed slightly and let his hands fall onto Dean's hips to drag them against his own, a soft moan of Dean's name tripping off of his lips. Dean's lips met Castiel's and Castiel let his hands slide up Dean's shirt, brushing against his ribs.

Dean inhaled a sharp breath and winced when Castiel put slight pressure on his ribs. Castiel gave Dean a look, but Dean shook his head and they went back to the kiss. They continued for a while, their hands wandering gently, until Castiel couldn't take the tenderness and the slow. Impatiently groaning, his touches grew rougher and more needy. Castiel grabbed the hem of Dean's shirt and dragged it up, tearing at Dean's lips with his own. Dean let Castiel pull his shirt off, wincing and gasping when Castiel's knuckles hit against his ribs and his shoulders. Castiel dropped the shirt on the floor and sighed softly, his hands settling on Dean's hips again. He could feel Dean shaking. 

"Dean-"

"I'm fine," Dean interrupted Castiel, leaning in to kiss Castiel again. Castiel avoided it, shaking his head. 

"You're wincing with every touch," he whispered, his hands ghosting down Dean's back in fear of inducing hurt. "That's not 'fine,' human."

"I'm fine, angel, I really am," Dean smiled, but it looked pained. "I just want you..." A small smirk played with Dean's lips, teasing Castiel's willpower. Dean's hands curled into his hair. "Only your touch can heal me, angel." 

Castiel felt his own lips curl into a smirk. "Only my touch, huh?"

Dean chuckled and nodded, leaning in to kiss Castiel. Castiel returned the kiss, softer than before. It seemed to disappoint Dean a little to not have the same vigor as before. He sighed and stared at Castiel, who stared back stoically. He wasn't changing his mind. "Fine," Dean finally grumbled, starting toward the bed. When Castiel tried to move to Dean's side to help him walk, Dean raised his hands and glared at Castiel in a way that said he could do this on his own. Castiel sighed again and pulled his hands away, watching Dean lay down with difficulty. "Come on, at least lay with me. Unless you're too stubborn to do even that." 

Castiel frowned and walked over to Dean's dresser. He grabbed the pants he usually wore from the top of the dresser and pulled out one of Dean's pairs, distracting himself from his anger at Dean by changing. His eyes met Dean's as he walked over to the bed again. He unbuttoned and unzipped Dean's jeans and tugged them off of his form maybe a little too roughly, then shoved Dean's pants against his chest. As he walked to the other side, Dean changed into the pants and got under the covers. Castiel unbuttoned his shirt, welcoming the calming, repetitive act, before shedding it and laying down beside Dean. "We should probably have brushed our teeth," Castiel said, voice flat. 

"Probably," Dean replied, voice just as monotone. Silence settled over them for a few more seconds, until Dean sat up and looked at Castiel. "That was a dick move."

"What was?" Castiel met Dean's eyes, knowing his own were fiery. "Not wanting to hurt you?"

"Not wanting me," Dean growled. "Feigning interest."

"Feigning-" Castiel coughed out a laugh as he sat up again. "You're kidding me, Dean. I want you just as bad as you want me, believe me."

"Yeah, sure," Dean sighed, looking down at the blanket he had bunched in his hand. 

"I just don't want to hurt you," Castiel mumbled, almost shyly. He turned slightly. "You've been wincing since- y'know- that happened. I don't want to cause any excess pain, Dean, so I'm putting up that wall tonight. Okay? Tonight, until you're feeling better. Until it's easier to move."

Dean sighed again, his eyes closing. Castiel smiled, knowing the tone of resignation in even just a sigh. "Whatever, fine. I don't want to argue." 

"Good," Castiel replied, his hand lifting to gently brush down Dean's back. "Let's sleep. You look like you need it, human."

"I am pretty tired," Dean nodded, laying down again. Castiel did the same, instinctively turning onto his side and very gently draping his arm over Dean's hips. Dean's hand settled on Castiel's, his lips settling into a small smile. "Goodnight, angel."

"Goodnight, Dean," Castiel whispered, his fingers brushing against Dean's skin. "Sleep well." 

"You too, Cas." 


	6. Chapter 6

In the morning,  Castiel  woke up to find Dean still asleep. He smiled lazily and pressed his lips against the bruise on Dean's shoulder with featherlike lightness before pushing the covers off of himself and sitting up. With one last glance at the smooth, soft features of Dean's sleeping face, he stood and walked out of the room and into the kitchen. 

Castiel  had only stayed the night three times now, but Dean's apartment was just as good as his own. He knew where everything was already and he could work the appliances without difficulty. That's why he made coffee while waiting for Dean to wake up, leaning against the counter and checking his phone that he had taken from the pocket of his jeans on his way out of the bedroom.  Castiel  hurriedly tapped out a recap of the night's end to Gabriel, asking him to get in touch with the parole officers and tell them not to take action but to keep the altercation on record. 

The machine on  Castiel's  left beeped as he hit send. "Shut up,"  Castiel  mumbled to it as he poured coffee into the two mugs he had pulled down from the cabinet. He set the pot back into the maker and searched for a second for the sugar, pouring just enough to please his taste buds into the mug that was meant to be his and stirring it. When he realized Dean had not woken up yet,  Castiel  looked at the doorway for a minute before deciding that it would be nice to wake Dean up with coffee in bed, especially after last night.  Castiel  picked up both mugs and carefully made his way to Dean's room. 

Once in the room, he set the mugs down on Dean's nightstand, spoon sticking out of the one that was his own, and leaned down over Dean. He gently nuzzled his neck and kissed, then moved up his jaw and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Wake up, human,"  Castiel  murmured, kissing down to Dean's ear. He kissed his ear and chuckled at the halfhearted swat Dean made at his chin. "I've got coffee and kisses."

"It's too early to be 'wake,  Cas ," Dean groaned. " Lemme  sleep more."

"Whatever,"  Castiel  grinned. "Your coffee will just get cold."

"Good. Sleep is better than coffee."

"How dare you say that!"  Castiel  feigned shock at Dean's words. "Coffee is so much better than sleep."

"Not  righ ' now, angel. Now go away, I want to go back to my dream." 

"What were you dreaming about?"  Castiel  gently brushed his nose against Dean's as he whispered the question. 

"You, now go away," Dean tried another half hearted slap that made  Castiel  laugh. 

"Why are you dreaming of me when you've got the real one right here?"

"Because this isn't a dream about now," Dean mumbled, sighing and relaxing again.  Castiel  smiled and kissed him softly and slowly. Dean responded to the kiss almost reluctantly. 

"Then what was it about?"  Castiel  whispered, lips dragging against Dean's as he did. God, he loved that feeling. 

"Don'  wanna  say," Dean moaned, leaning up into  Castiel's  kiss. " Bu'now  I'm awake ' nd  will take those kisses gladly." 

"You'll take your coffee gladly,"  Castiel  smirked, pulling away from Dean and reaching toward the mugs. Before he could even touch them his shoulder was grabbed and he was brought crashing down onto the empty side of the bed, a tired, clingy boyfriend over him. "What the-" he breathed out, eyes on Dean's. "Where the fuck did you learn that?"

"I used to take karate, I know a few things still... Plus I have to have self-defense classes living in this neighborhood." Dean grinned, straddling  Castiel's  hips. He leaned down slightly, his lips brushing against  Castiel's . "I'm feeling much better now. Not as sore... We could do what we do best and fuck a bit, angel." Dean's breath ghosted against  Castiel's  lips and cheek.

 Oh, God, Dean was so tempting and so good at teasing  Castiel . He already knew what made him- oh... Dean's lips smothered the corner of  Castiel's  jaw and his pulse point with attention. It drew a long moan out of  Castiel . He felt a hand brush down his chest and stomach and inhaled deeply, his head tilting back slightly. The god damn flip started it all. Why did Dean have to know how to do that, and more importantly, why did he have to do it to  Castiel ? God damn it, damn this ma- oh, that hand was tracing the low waistband of the borrowed sweatpants...  Castiel's  eyes fell closed and his hands looped under Dean's arms, his fingers digging into Dean's shoulder blades. Dean's lips and teeth- perfect teeth- were on  Castiel's  neck now, working their way down until Dean suddenly pulled away and kissed  Castiel  passionately. Dean groaned against his lips and tugged on his shoulder to pull him up into a sitting position with Dean in his lap. "Dean,"  Castiel  whispered, his lips pulling Dean's with them when he pulled away. "Dean, we're still in our clothes." 

"You're right," the man on  Castiel's  lap mumbled, reaching down to grab the hem of his shirt. He pulled it off and dropped it on the floor before grabbing  Castiel's  and tugging it up. "One layer down." 

"Two more to go,"  Castiel  smirked, his hands lifting to grab Dean's cheeks and pull him forward into a deep kiss. 

That's when  Castiel's  thigh started vibrating and ringing. Dean jumped slightly and pulled away from  Castiel  with a confused look.  Castiel  sighed and pulled the phone out of his pocket, knowing Dean would make him answer it anyway, especially since it was Gabriel. 

"What?" was  Castiel's  greeting, which earned him a look from Dean that conveyed that he was being a jerk. "What is it, Gabriel?"

"First off, please make sure your phone is not in your pocket when you're getting something from your little boyfriend. I'd very much like to never hear Dean ask you to fuck again, thank you."

Dean obviously heard Gabriel because he started laughing, falling back from  Castiel's  lap as he laughed. From his waist down stayed on and around  Castiel  though, and it definitely gave him a good view.  Castiel  walked his fingers down Dean's leg and stomach as he smirked. "Sorry about that. Is that why you called? You wanted to tell me off for pocket dialing you?"

"No, I wanted to tell you there's been another victim." 

Slender fingers stopped moving on Dean's stomach. "Seriously? Now?"

"Well, if you think pleasing your boyfriend and yourself is more important than the safety of this city's finest women-"

A sigh fell out of  Castiel  and his shoulders slumped. "Fine," he grumbled. "I'll be there in ten. You need me to pick you up at the station?"

"Yeah. Hurry, forensics is already there." With that, Gabriel hung up, and  Castiel  was left with a sad demeanor and a disappointed looking boyfriend looking up at him. 

Dean sat up, making  Castiel's  hand slide up his chest and onto his shoulder as  Castiel  tossed the phone onto their pile of shirts.  Castiel  smiled and kissed Dean roughly. He whispered into it with a hopeful tone in his voice. "Maybe if we go quick..."

\----

Castiel  showed up at the station with messy hair, flushed cheeks, and messy clothing. He was even pretty sure his tie was backwards, but he didn't care. A small smile was on his lips when Gabriel shook his head and got in the car, rambling off directions for  Castiel . Filing the directions in his mental registry,  Castiel  almost missed Gabriel's remark. 

"So, you found a way to work in both your boyfriend and the city. Good for you."

" Mmhm ,"  Castiel  hummed proudly, grinning now. "I like incorporating both. Much more..."

"Exciting?" Gabriel offered, then started to reach out toward  Castiel's  mouth.  Castiel  frowned, watching him draw his hand back again as though he was disgusted. "You- uh-" Gabriel scoffed. "You've got a little something on your- your lip." 

Castiel's  frown deepened and he raised on hand to wipe his lip with the pad of his thumb. A chuckle came out of him when he saw what was on his thumb and he licked it off, then wiped his thumb on his pants before returning it to the steering wheel. He caught a glimpse of Gabriel's face and laughed harder than he should have at his friend's expense. When he finally composed himself again, he clapped his hand against Gabriel's shoulder. "It was icing," he reassured Gabriel. "I got dressed and walked out to find Dean making himself breakfast and I opened the glaze for the rolls and dipped my finger in. Don't worry, it's not Dean's-"

"Okay! I believe you. Shut up,  Cas , or I will jump out of this car." 

"Be my guest,"  Castiel  shrugged, earning a glare from Gabriel. "I'm kidding. No one here is jumping into traffic." 

"Exactly. Take the left up here."

\----

The victim was hard to identify. Her driver's license was ripped and wet. The paper inside was damp and blurry thanks to the water. All that  Castiel  could make out of it was her first name and age. 

Ruby was thirty-two. He looked from the license in his hand to the woman laying on the wire in front of him. A sigh escaped as he crouched down, exhaling as he did so. He pinched the woman's palm carefully and examined her hand first, a frown settling on his lips when he noticed something off. 

"Shit," he breathed, using both hands to hold hers now. 

There was red under her fingernails. Red and pink and.. No.  Castiel's  eyes wandered up to her face, where scratch marks surrounded her missing eyes.  Castiel  dropped her hand and closed his own eyes, letting out a long soft breath. He inhaled, then realized his mistake. Death filled his nose and he knew it would stick around for as long as it liked. 

Castiel  stood and shook his head, unable to get the image of this woman's actions out of his head. His eyes settled on Gabriel, who raised an eyebrow. He approached his partner slowly, unable to walk away from Ruby without looking over his shoulder at her. He swallowed the metallic taste in his mouth as Gabriel fell into step beside him in his attempt to get as far away from the scene as he could. 

"What happened? I've never seen you this freaked out." 

"It looks like our partner or copy-cat or whatever the hell this is,"  Castiel  whispered angrily, "has got a few new tricks." He clenched his jaw and took a deep breath. Why wouldn't that god damn smell get out of his nose? He closed his eyes. "This woman- Ruby- clawed her own eyes out. She has scratch marks all around her eyes and blood and skin under her fingernails." 

He heard Gabriel make a disgusted noise. "Gross. What the hell kind of sick guy is this?" 

Castiel  shook his head and sighed. "There's more. We can't identify her fully at the moment. Her ID is cut and wet. All I could get was Ruby and her birthday, which made her thirty. Looks like we've got a visit to pay to the hospital to check records or we've got to wait for forensics." 

\----

Dean texted  Castiel  and asked if he wanted to come over again that night. It was a text that  Castiel  responded to with an immediate ' _God, yes_.' Dean would be able to help him with this crappy day. 

Ever since  Castiel  saw the blood on Ruby's fingernails, the day had been a mess. They'd rushed to the hospital to try the birth records and found nothing on a Ruby born on that day thirty years ago. Yeah, the woman's birthday was that day.

Happy birthday! Here's your death. 

They'd then rushed to the station when a man appeared, claiming his sister was missing for multiple days. 

The man's sister's name was Bela, not Ruby, and she was twenty. They directed his file to another group and then got a call from forensics, who said that they couldn't find anything on her to help find the killer. They had figured out the woman's last name, though. Ruby Jetson. 

That led to  Castiel  and Gabriel heading to the Jetson's house to inform them that their daughter, sister, whatever, had been murdered and that they would do their best to find the killer. That lead to a lot of crying and denial from the family members. 

Which, of course,  Castiel  had to escape. It just brought back his own memories, especially when he saw Ruby's eight year old son, Jesse, crying on his father's shoulder. He quietly excused himself from Gabriel's side and went outside to check his phone, which led to him seeing the text from Dean and sighing in relief as he responded. 

_I'm lonely_ , Dean replied again, accompanied by a frowny face. 

_ I miss you.  _

_ And your kisses and laugh and smile and voice. _

_ Can't you come home now? _

_ You've been gone for almost 9 hours. _

Castiel  frowned and leaned against the car. With every text from Dean, the weight in his chest lifted a little. _Has it really been that long?_ __

_ Yeah. You left at eight this morning.  _

_ I'm sorry, Dean. We got caught up in the case. It was a slight Jane Doe and we had to research. _

_ It's okay, angel. I understand. I just want you home. _

Castiel's  heart fluttered. The live birds were in his stomach again, trying to fly out. _Home?_  

_ Shit. I didn't mean that.  _

_ I mean, I did. _

_ But _

_ Shit. _

_ I'm sorry. _

_ It's fine. Don't worry, Dean.  _

_ I'm sorry. _

_ It was a mistake, Dean. Stop saying sorry. I have to go, but I'll be home in between half an hour and an hour from now. I promise. _

\-----

Castiel  got home forty-five minutes from then and he was still thinking about how Dean had called it home. Obviously Dean had meant home as in his own home, the way people who were talking to others said 'mom' instead of 'my mom.' Either that or Dean considered it  Castiel's  home too... Silently wishing it was the second one, despite their short relationship,  Castiel  knocked on the door to the apartment. 

Dean opened the door and grabbed his shirt to pull him inside quickly, making  Castiel  laugh. He melted into the kiss Dean pressed against his lips after closing the door. His hands slid onto Dean's cheeks, pinkies hooking under Dean's jaw. Dean pulled away slowly and  Castiel  sighed, opening his eyes again. 

" Heya ,  Cas ," Dean grinned, hand flattening on  Castiel's  chest. 

"Hello, Dean,"  Castiel  smiled back, hands falling from Dean's face and dropping to his hips.  Castiel  slid his arms around Dean's waist and pulled him close in a tight hug, his face dropping against Dean's neck. Cheap aftershave filled his nose, replacing the scent of death and making him grin wider. "You're a lifesaver,"  Castiel  sighed happily.

Dean laughed and tightened his arms around  Castiel . "How so?"

"There was a- uh-"  Castiel  pulled from the hug and shrugged slightly, "bad smell haunting me all day."

"Let me guess, the even worse aftershave kicked it out?"

"Yeah,"  Castiel  grinned, kissing Dean again. "Lifesaver." 

Dean smiled into the kiss and shoved  Cas  away playfully. "C'mon, I've got dinner ready."

"Oh, you cooked for me?"  Castiel  asked, walking backwards toward the kitchen. "Housewife."

"Whatever," Dean laughed, turning  Castiel  around and taking off his suit jacket. "You should have grabbed clothes from home before coming over again."

"Who said I didn't?"  Castiel  raised an eyebrow and gestured by the door, where he had dropped a bag. "I stopped at home in the morning before the hospital and brushed my teeth and changed. I couldn't go without packing a bag in case you asked again." 

Dean laughed and shook his head as he dragged  Castiel  into the kitchen and pushed him down into the chair at the table. 

\-----

Castiel  looked at the pictures on the wall, the newest addition to Dean's living room. He grinned at the children's drawings, jumping slightly when arms slid around his waist from behind. A kiss was dropped onto his shoulder and he relaxed back into Dean slightly, reaching behind him to curl his fingers in Dean's hair gently. "We have a day to ourselves tomorrow..."

"Yes, we do," Dean mumbled, chin on  Castiel's  shoulder. "Were you admiring my students' art work?" 

"Yeah, I was,"  Castiel  sighed happily. "It's actually not half bad."

"For children," Dean scoffed, making  Castiel  laugh. 

"For children," he agreed.  Castiel  twirled a strand of Dean's hair around his finger with a smile. He glanced down at the floor and at Dean's hands laced together on his stomach. His own free hand lifted to cover them lightly. Home...

Castiel  sighed again and leaned his head on Dean's gently, closing his eyes. He inhaled the scent of Dean's cheap shampoo and that ever-lingering scent of aftershave. His heart soared and he felt truly happy again. The floating sensation was back, shipping him off to cloud nine. Home was Dean,  Castiel  decided. Dean was his home and  Castiel  would be lost without him. Their relationship had grown so much in this short time, in the span of a month and a half. Dean had practically become his everything already. 

Dean was his home, nothing else was. Not his apartment, not the cemetery where his parents were, not his work.

Dean.

Castiel  kissed Dean's temple and then kissed him on the lips. He let his nose knock against Dean's gently and grinned. "Let's go to bed."

"Oh, come on," Dean protested with a smile and another kiss. "Let's watch a movie. I'm not tired."

"And what if I fall asleep?"

"Then I'll leave you to rot on the couch," Dean teased. "I'd wake you up and walk you to bed, angel." 

"Damn right,"  Castiel  laughed. "Fine. Movie it is. Your choice." 

"Perfect," Dean slid his hands apart and grabbed  Castiel's  hand to pull him to the loveseat.  Castiel  dropped down and watched Dean go through his movies, head leaning against the back of the couch. 

Dean finally chose one, started it, and took his usual seat almost on  Castiel's  lap. He smiled and kissed  Castiel's  cheek animatedly. "Go ahead and sleep," Dean mumbled, head leaning against  Castiel's  shoulder. "I'll wake you up, don't worry." 

Castiel  smiled and kissed him gently. "I'll try to stay awake,"  Cas  whispered, arm sliding around Dean's shoulders. "Promise." 

He didn't last long. He passed out, head back against the couch, arm around Dean's shoulders. 

Next thing  Castiel  knew he was being shaken awake and heard a panicked voice saying his name.  Cas  sat up with a gasp and looked at Dean. "What-"

"Oh, God, you scared me,  Cas ," Dean sighed in relief, holding  Castiel's  cheeks. "You really scared me."

"What did I-"  Castiel  paused his nightmare coming back. "Shit," he breathed out, hands shakily raising to Dean's hair to brush through it. "I'm sorry, Dean."

"It's okay," Dean mumbled. "Just- just tell me what that was. Please?" 

Castiel  bit his lip and studied Dean's eyes before sighing. Someone yelled on the television. "Fine, okay, I will. I- uh- when I was eight,"  Castiel  started, looking away from Dean's eyes, "my parents were killed. I was in the room- the warehouse. They were murdered in front of me... I still have nightmares about it." He looked back at Dean, seeing him looking at him with pity again. "Dean, you're showing your pity again. I'm used to it when I have to talk about this, but please don't give me yours. At least right now."

"Sorry," Dean mumbled, looking down. "I just kind of know how you feel." 

"What?"  Castiel  asked, frowning. "What do you-"

"My mom died," Dean admitted and  Castiel  felt his heart drop. "House fire when I was four."

"I'm sorry,"  Castiel  murmured. "I really am."

"I'm tired of hearing that," Dean shook his head. "It's nowhere near as bad as yours,  Cas . I'm sorry."

"No,"  Cas  sighed, kissing Dean. "Let's stop talking about this and go to bed. Does that sound good?" 

Dean smiled faintly. "It sounds wonderful. I'm finally tired." 

Castiel  smiled lazily and kissed Dean again, letting him stand up.  Cas  stood as well and took the disc from Dean, put it back in the box, and slid it into its respective position on the shelf. He then took Dean's hand and turned off the light as they left the room, sliding his socked feet across the floor. They dropped into bed and curled into each other,  Castiel  being careful not to touch any of Dean's healing bruises as he did so. 

Dean drifted off before  Castiel  this time.

\----

When  Castiel  woke, it was to the smell of coffee and sugar. A smile crossed his lips before he even opened his eyes. With a soft groan he rolled over, toward Dean's side of the bed, and buried his face in Dean's pillow happily. He was not ready to get out of bed yet at all. Sighing, he nuzzled the pillow.

Then he heard the singing. Dean was singing practically at the top of his lungs, a deep, slow sound that resonated through  Castiel  and sent him into shivers. It was a loud rendition of Moon River- a song  Castiel  never would have expected Dean to know as well as it seemed he did.  Castiel  lost himself in the deep tones of Dean's voice, and when the song was over  Castiel  wondered if it was possible to fall in love in a month and a half, and to fall deeper from just hearing a voice. 

Dean started up again, this time singing Love Me Tender, and  Castiel  decided to get up and let Dean know he was listening. 

"For, my darling," Dean was singing while standing at the counter when  Castiel  came up to the kitchen doorway, "I love you, and I always will..." 

Castiel  watched and listened as Dean finished the song, silently leaning against the door frame. He clapped and grinned when Dean jumped and turned toward him, face steadily growing redder. "You should be a singer,"  Castiel  stated blatantly, avoiding the paper wad that Dean threw at him. He padded over to Dean and kissed his cheek. "Good morning."

"Whatever," Dean smiled, catching  Castiel's  lips in a languid kiss. "I'll believe it when it happens."

"It has,"  Castiel  mumbled, arms circling Dean's waist. "For me, at least. I woke up to you singing and the smell of coffee and sugar."

"So you smell the pastry?" Dean smiled at  Cas , then held up a mug of coffee. "I was just stirring in the sugar. A heaping spoonful of sugar, just the way you like it." 

"Define heaping,"  Castiel  smirked, accepting the mug and returning a short kiss to Dean's forehead. He lifted the mug to his lips and inhaled, eyes closing. Perfect. He took a sip and sighed afterward, grinning at Dean. "Perfect. Thank you."

"No problem," Dean leaned back against the counter, picking up his own mug with one hand and taking a long drink. How was that sexy? "Did you sleep well, angel?"

"Yes, I did, human,"  Castiel  smiled, setting his mug down on the counter beside Dean and jumping up to sit on it. He picked up his mug again and took a sip, relishing the sweet yet bitter taste. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept well," Dean smiled.  Castiel  didn't doubt him for a second, Dean had learned it was useless lying to him. 

"Good,"  Castiel  nodded. "Good." He blinked for a little bit too long and felt himself start to drift again. He shook his head and took a long drink of coffee. "God bless caffeine," he muttered, hearing Dean sigh what sounded like 'I second that.' A smile slid onto his lips and he took another drink.

The duo stayed like that for a bit, enjoying their coffee in silence, until  Castiel  couldn't stand feeling like he was going to pass out again any second despite the caffeine running through his system. He finished his mug and slid off of the counter, leaving the mug on the counter. He leaned toward Dean slightly and kissed him slowly. "Mind if I take a quick shower?" he whispered into another kiss, feeling Dean shake his head slightly. 

"Feel free," Dean replied. "Towels are in the cabinet in the bathroom. Shampoo and soap in the shower."

Castiel  smiled and kissed him again a little deeper. "I'll be back out in fifteen, unless you join me at some point... Save some water."  Cas  winked and walked out of the room, grinning. 

\----

Castiel  stepped out of the shower and dried off quickly, getting dressed quickly as well in a simple t-shirt and jeans. He yawned softly and shook his head, wondering why he was still tired. His towel slipped out of his hands as he reached up to scrub his hair dry, but  Castiel  was too tired to pick it up off of the floor. His hair would dry anyway. 

Castiel  stumbled out of the bathroom looking for Dean, vision blurring. "Human?" he called softly, yawning again. "I think I'm going to fall asleep again..." He blinked lazily and walked into the kitchen, frowning when he didn't find Dean in there. Was Dean in the bedroom? 

"Dean?"   


Dean wasn't in the bedroom.  Castiel  scanned the entire room with blurry eyes, until they landed on the bed. 

Bed.

Bed sounded good right now. It sounded nice and warm and soft. Beds were for sleeping, and sleep was what  Castiel  wanted. He needed the bed. Dean would find him when he came back. 

When  Castiel  went to take a step forward, his foot barely moved and he threw his weight forward, causing him to fall to the floor. 

The floor would work. It wasn't as warm or soft as the bed, but  Castiel  didn't have the energy to get up. He felt his eyes drop closed as his world went black. 

\----

When  Castiel  woke again, he was disoriented. When had he ended up on the floor? He groaned and pushed himself up, stretching. His muscles felt like liquid. 

After a long yawn, he shook his head. Coffee. He needed coffee. He didn't care how he took it, he just needed it. He pushed himself up and stumbled into the kitchen, finding a half full pot on the counter. He poured it into his mug from earlier and drank it black, coughing after he did. He sighed. 

Now, next order of business. How did he end up on the floor? The last thing he remembered was getting into the shower...  Castiel  wiped his eyes and whipped his head back and forth quickly. "Okay, get it together,  Cas ," he muttered. "No more sleeping. It's-"  Castiel  frowned and looked around, spotting the clock on the radio in the kitchen. "Five pm? What the hell?" Well, at least the cold coffee was explained. 

Castiel  tapped his foot as he tried to remember what had happened after he got in the shower. Obviously he had finished showering, if his still damp hair and clothed body was anything to go by. There was just the matter of what happened after that to make him end up on the floor, and what made him stay there. 

Where was Dean?  Castiel  hadn't seen Dean yet. Maybe he went out for something...

Castiel  heard a beep and frowned down at the oven. It was still on. He opened the door and coughed at the smoke and stench that poured out of the opening. 

All that was left of whatever pastry Dean had been making was black charcoal. 

Why would Dean leave the oven on for so long when he left? Unless...  Castiel's  eyes widened and he felt dread settle in his stomach. "No..." He knew very well what was possible, especially in these parts of the city. Damn it, Dean!  Castiel  rushed to the bedroom, almost slipping on the floor in his socks, and slid to a stop at the bed. He grabbed his own phone from the nightstand and hurriedly dialed Dean's number.

It went to voicemail. 

Cursing,  Castiel  dialed it again. "Fucking pick up your fucking pho-"

" Cas ?" Dean was on the line. 

"Thank god, Dean,"  Castiel  sighed, running a hand across his cheeks. Had he been crying? His fingers came away wet. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Dean said, but his voice seemed far away. Like he was on speaker. "I'm fine. Don't worry."

"Okay,"  Castiel  said skeptically. "When will you be home?"

"I'm not sure," Dean said, his voice growing more and more tense. That couldn't be good. "I'm just picking up a few things. I'll be home at some point..."

"Things like what?"  Castiel  asked as calmly as possible, even though he felt himself freaking out on the inside. Dean's voice was panicked. 

"Oh, you know, things for work. Crayons, pencils... Paper and sticky notes for me..." Dean paused, and  Castiel  heard a noise that sounded like a whisper. " Slinkies , too," Dean said quickly. "Can't forget the  slinkies . My students love  slinkies ..."

"Shit,"  Castiel  whispered, more tears spilling out of his eyes. "Yeah," he said. "Kids love them. I'll see you when you get home, okay?"

"Okay," Dean's voice was strangled now. He sounded like he was crying. "I love you,  Castiel ."

Castiel's  heart stopped. "I love you too," he whispered, but he was too late. The line had already clicked to signal the end of the connection. 

Slinkies ... Dean had repeated the word three times. God dammit, was  Castiel  glad that he had come up with a  codeword . 

As he pulled on his shoes and jacket as fast as he could, he dialed the station to let them know he was coming in and had something of import- at least for him- that needed taken care of as soon as possible. He clipped his gun on his belt and took a deep breath before running out of the apartment and leaving the door to slam closed behind him. He ran all the way to his car and almost sped to the station. 

\----

Lucifer, Michael, and Balthazar greeted him outside the station when he arrived. He cut the engine and jumped out of the car, wiping his cheeks furiously. In the time it had taken to drive from the apartment to the station,  Castiel's  fright had turned to pure anger. 

He stopped just in front of Lucifer, who was looking at him with concern in his eyes. 

"Where's Gabriel?"  Castiel  asked. 

"He's out. Took the day off, said he was leaving town." Michael supplied quickly.  Castiel  shook his head. 

"We can do this without him then. Dean's in trouble. I don't know what kind, but he used the fucking  codeword  we came up with three fucking times. If that doesn't mean anything, then I'm not sure what the hell does. I don't know where the fuck he is, though."  Castiel  felt his voice break and closed his eyes for a second. "I just need to find out and I can fucking take care of this myself." 

" Cas , calm down," Lucifer whispered as Michael and Balthazar rushed inside, hopefully to track Dean's phone. "Breathe,  Castiel ." 

Castiel  couldn't just breathe. He couldn't breathe until he found Dean, until he found his home and knew he was safe and would never, ever leave his sights again. He felt sick. "I can't," he whispered, feeling his cheeks grow warm from fresh tears. "Some sick asshole has Dean, Lucifer. Sam's brother, my boyfriend- my home,"  Castiel  wiped at his eyes and sniffed. "I- I need him safe. I need him safe, Lucifer, I didn't get to say it. He doesn't know it, he doesn't know it." 

"Dean doesn't know what?" Lucifer, the stupid sap, pulled  Castiel  forward slightly and hugged him lightly.  Castiel  couldn't find comfort in the embrace. "What doesn't he know,  Cas ?"

"He didn't hear me say it back,"  Castiel  whispered. "I didn't say it in time."

" Wh -" Lucifer started, then relaxed slightly. He sighed. "Oh," Lucifer whispered. "He didn't hear you say it back... He said it?"

Castiel  nodded.

"And you said it back?"

"How could I not? I realized it last night... I-" 

"Oh,  Cas ," Lucifer interrupted, hand rubbing up and down his back, but it only made  Castiel  more uncomfortable. "Come on. Let's go see if those idiots have Dean's phone tracked yet. Okay? Then we can get to Dean and you can tell him."

All  Castiel  did was hum in reply. 

"Those words better be the first out of your damn mouth when you see him," Lucifer muttered as they walked inside,  Castiel  wiping his eyes still. 

\----

Balthazar and Michael had tracked the number to a familiar warehouse and were getting ready to go when Lucifer and  Castiel  walked in. Lucifer slid his jacket on and checked his gun while  Castiel  stood by the door. 

He wanted to leave and get there before them, but he couldn't. If he did, it would be wrong and mean, and Dean would have chastised him for doing that to his friends. 

They piled into two cars, Lucifer joining  Castiel  and driving because  Castiel  was certainly in no shape to. He had started shaking and crying again, silently reliving his parents' murders. Michael and Balthazar were in the other car, and despite  Castiel  insisting they stay back, had come along and were following them. 

"Speed up,"  Castiel  whispered to Lucifer. Nick was driving way too slow for  Castiel's  taste. "Speed up, Lucifer."

"I can't do that,  Castiel . Calm down."

Castiel  set his jaw and turned the safety on his gun on and off as a nervous tick. 

They finally reached the warehouse and  Castiel  didn't waste any time. He wanted to get this over with and save his fucking boyfriend. 

Castiel  jumped out of the car and hurried to the door of the warehouse, gun held at the ready, safety off. He swallowed and heard an angry whisper behind him from Michael, but blatantly ignored it. He slowly turned the knob and then kicked the door open, raising his gun. He ran down to the main floor and scouted every corner, every square fucking inch, before spotting it. 

Dean's phone was laying on the ground in the very center, on top of a piece of folded paper.  Castiel  slowly walked toward it, hearing the other three searching upstairs. Their footsteps pounding on the metal echoed through the building. 

Castiel  crouched next to the broken phone and tugged on the piece of paper. He held it in both hands after setting his gun down, slowly unfolding it. 

A familiar font was scrawled across the paper. 

"Midnight, come alone. I'll be waiting,  Cassie ," he whispered to himself, then crumpled up the paper and threw it at the wall. 

"Fucking Gabriel,"  Castiel  sobbed into his hand, picking up his gun and firing an angry shot at the paper. It was a waste, shooting at an inanimate paper, but it helped somehow. He bit his tongue to keep from screaming as he stomped back out of the building. "Fuck you, Gabriel," he whispered to himself. "I'm fucking coming to get my boyfriend, and I'm coming now. I'm not waiting until midnight." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter after this, then I'll start posting another one of my older fics! :-)


	7. Chapter 7

Castiel  got back to the station and hurried into Michael's office, locking the door. He typed in the requirements to track Gabriel's phone, and when he saw the location he froze. 

It was the warehouse where his parents had been murdered. Gabriel couldn't be behind that, he had been as old as  Castiel  had been at the time. With a sigh,  Castiel  left the office in time to see the other car pull up to the station and the three he had previously been with spilled out of the car. 

"It's in your office. You'll recognize the fucking number,"  Castiel  shouted. "Now, I'm going to go save my fucking boyfriend. It's up to you guys if you want to help me or not, and you'll see why as soon as you see the screen." He climbed in the car and left the stunned group of three standing on the sidewalk in front of the brick building. 

\-----

When he got to the warehouse, he parked the car and looked around in the dark. The warehouse was an hour outside of the city, so it was now seven. The would have meant five more hours if  Castiel  decided to follow Gabriel's rules, but he didn't.

Castiel  was not going to wait five more hours to see and save his fucking boyfriend. 

He was going to go in there, gun raised, and shoot the second he saw that son of a bitch he had called a partner. Right in the heart. 

Or maybe the damn eye. It would serve him right. 

Castiel  was now standing outside the building, gun in hand, safety off, but not at the ready. He wanted the son of a bitch to be surprised. Reaching out and closing his hand around the doorknob, he closed his eyes and steeled himself. This was work as well as personal, but he could do it. 

Castiel  opened the door slowly and stepped in, clenching his jaw and looking at the people in front of him.

"Gabriel,"  Castiel  said calmly as a greeting. 

"Ah,  Castiel . You disobeyed." Gabriel's voice was grating. "Oh well, the sooner this is over, the better."

"Your brothers know."

"I figured you'd tell them," Gabriel waved his gun absently, then turned it back toward the head he was holding. When he did that, it pulled  Castiel's  eyes down and he felt anger bubble up in his stomach and chest again. "Ah, anger. How beautiful."

Dean was being held at gunpoint and over a bucket of water.

"I have to admit," Gabriel clicked his tongue. "I would normally drown him in the river or a pool or something. This will have to do, though. I guess it's a little more fun as well." He smirked when  Castiel's  eyes burned back to him. "Do you want a demonstration? I could easily give you one..."

Castiel  raised his gun. "Don't you dare, Milton."

"Oh, I wouldn't raise your gun at me," Gabriel smirked, voice laced with amusement. He shook his head. "Oh, no, no. I've got my finger on the trigger and it's aimed at your boyfriend's head. I can pull the trigger in the time it takes for the bullet you fire to hit me." 

Castiel  felt his eye twitch, but kept his gun raised. It helped him feel better somehow. Made him feel in a little bit more control. 

"Okay, now for that demonstration. Don't worry, I won't kill him." Gabriel chuckled. "Yet." 

He adjusted his grip on Dean's hair and  Castiel  had a hard time tearing his eyes from Dean's shaking form. His eyes were wide and scared as well, and it threw  Castiel  into an even worse terror.

Then his head was plunged in the huge bucket of water. Gabriel held it down, eyes sparkling with amusement and excitement as he looked from  Castiel  to his victim. In shock and broken fright,  Castiel  dropped his gun. He barely registered the clatter of it falling to the floor. 

\-----

"You know, I know what happened here twenty- four?- years ago," Gabriel mused as he looked around. He'd pulled Dean up a few seconds ago and Dean was coughing and distracting  Castiel , who was sitting on the floor from.when he had fallen. "Your parents died. I'm not sure if there's still stains in here either..." 

"There isn't,"  Castiel  mumbled, gun in hand again. Better safe than sorry, so he'd grabbed it again when he realized it had fallen. "Believe me, I know. I remember every aspect of it." 

"Oh, well that's good then. You'll have two things to remember after tonight," Gabriel laughed and it made  Castiel  want to shoot him more than before. "Shall we get on with this? I've got somewhere to be, specifically away from here when my brothers show up... Let's get this over with."

\-----

Gabriel held the gun centimeters from Dean's eye. Dean was coughing, trying to catch his breath from being dunked under the water for two minutes.  Castiel  had counted while yelling at Gabriel to stop this. Water spilled out of his lips with every choking noise, dripping from his face and hair as well. His eyes didn't close either. They stayed trained on the barrel of the gun, a terrified look haunting them. 

"Everything will be fine, Dean,"  Castiel  said, voice soft. He hoped it was soothing. 

"Oh, yeah," Gabriel laughed. "Everything will be fine. Your little boyfriend will save you, Dean. The same boyfriend who didn't know I was the killer and hasn't known for months. He didn't even know I was working with Raphael Jackson! How soothing is that?" The short man tightened his grip on Dean's hair and  Castiel  could tell from the jerk in Dean's shoulder and face. "Look at me. I want you looking at me when I shoot out those pretty little eyes and drown you more."  Castiel  heard Dean take in a broken, wet breath as his eyes raised to Gabriel. "Much better."

 Gabriel then looked up at  Castiel .  "So, what do you want?" 

"I want my boyfriend,"  Castiel  growled, teeth gritted. 

"Sorry, what was that?" Gabriel turned his head as if it would help him hear better. 

"I want my god damn boyfriend!"  Castiel  roared, jaw locking when he closed his mouth. His lip twitched as he stared daggers at Gabriel, chest heaving with every angry breath. 

"What, this junk?" Gabriel's gun waved slightly, gesturing to Dean. 

"Junk?"  Castiel  asked angrily, voice soft. Gabriel had no trouble hearing him this time. "Dean is not junk, Gabriel. He-"  Castiel  broke off, eyes on Dean when he continued to speak. "He's nice. He's caring. He's funny, loving, crazy, gorgeous, idiotic, yet intelligent. He's the one who's there when you need him most. The one who gets out of bed to turn off the light when you're too tired to; the one who voluntarily helps the woman down the hall carry her groceries and talks with her; the one who knows exactly how to deal with children even when you don't. That idiot you're holding at gunpoint is keeping me together, Gabriel Milton. You-" A sigh fell of  of Castiel's  lips as a tear feel from his eye. He shook his head minutely. "You don't know what I'm like in shambles. You don't even want to know." 

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Shambles. I've seen you in shambles,  Castiel . You have no reason to worry about that." The gun was back at Dean's eye and  Castiel  felt anger and guilt swell in his stomach and chest. He was shaking. "Now, I'm going to get this over with. Easier to see you in damn shambles than to see you crying over a trash teacher." Gabriel's finger settled on the trigger again and  Castiel  froze in panic. 

"No!" He shouted. "No, Gabriel," he breathed, seeing Gabriel turned his head lazily. "Take me. Anything. Take me, do what you want with me. Leave Dean alone. He's a teacher, like you said. A third grade teacher. I'm a detective, I don't have any attachments other than you and Dean. No family. You wouldn't have to worry about it! You could get me, say you found me. Dean wouldn't breathe a word of this to anyone ever, right, Dean? Right. Take me, Gabriel. Leave Dean. Please. I'm begging you! Let Dean live and kill me." 

"No!" Dean said, voice scratched and full of water, and  Castiel  gave him a look that told him to shut up. "No. You're not doing that,  Cas . I'd rather die if it meant you living. You do more than I ever have. You keep people safe." 

"Exactly,"  Castiel  nodded. Dean had just sealed the deal with Gabriel like he had wanted. "I keep people safe. I'm valuable... Don't you want to kill someone valuable yet secluded?"

Gabriel moved the gun from Dean and pointed it at  Castiel . "That would be nice. No one to worry about you when you go missing..." 

"Exactly,"  Castiel  said, nodding. "Exactly. Do it, let Dean go. He'll be fine. Dean can continue with his life, keep shaping minds. The streets will be at your mercy, Gabriel. Come on, do it."  Castiel's  eyes fell to Dean, who was crying again. "One last thing," he whispered. If his plan didn't work, then he needed to get this out. "I love you, Dean. I said it earlier, but the line broke before I did." 

Dean was crying harder now, trying to fight against Gabriel. Gabriel tightened his grip and Dean gasped. 

"Do it, Milton. I'm done." 

\-----

The shot echoed through the warehouse.  Castiel  felt the bullet pierce skin and gasped, firing his gun at the same moment. 

Gabriel was too stunned to move and was hit right where  Castiel  had aimed- the eye. 

Castiel  watched him drop and exhaled, hand rising up to his shoulder. He felt the blood from the wound soaking through his jacket, and when he pulled his hand away, it was covered in red. He shook his head and stood, stepping over his now dead partner and untying Dean's hands with one hand. Dean was still shaking, and when he stood and looked at  Castiel , it was with gratitude. 

"Shut up,"  Castiel  smiled shakily. "I'm fine and you're fine. That's what matters, not who did it. Let's go." 

" Cas -" Dean grabbed his good arm and sighed. "You said his brothers know we're here. It would be better to wait, wouldn't it?"

"I guess,"  Castiel  sighed, but that was a bad idea. His shoulder stung when it relaxed. "Fuck," he whispered, hand raising to it again. "Want to do me a favor?"

Dean rolled his eyes and nodded. "I'm heading out to the car, because I know you've got a kit in there. I'll be right back, okay? Don't do anything."

Castiel  smiled and nodded, dropping down to sit against the wall by the door. Dean left and he was alone with his dead partner and himself. 

"You were a sick son of a bitch, Gabriel,"  Castiel  muttered, wincing at the pain that shot through his shoulder. "You deserved that." 

Dean appeared again and crouched in front of  Castiel , opening the kit. 

"I don't even care about the shirt,"  Castiel  breathed. "You can rip it or you can leave it, all I know is that I can't lift that arm." 

"I'll rip it," Dean whispered. "It'll be better than having fabric pressing against your wound."  Castiel  nodded, finding comfort in the scratchy tone of Dean's voice. He listened to Dean talk softly about nothing as he worked, biting his lip every time Dean coughed. The ripping of his shirt distracted him for a second, then he was back to pain when Dean wiped the wound with antiseptic. He hissed in a breath and winced, a metallic taste flooding his mouth at the pain. "Sorry, sorry," Dean whispered every time  Castiel  winced. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be,"  Castiel  sighed. "It's much better than having an infection." 

"Have you-"

"Yeah, but don't worry about it. It's a story for another time."

Dean exhaled sharply and  Castiel  smiled slightly. He listened as Dean rustled through things in the kit and sighed softly, keeping his shoulder tense. He could feel blood on his skin and closed his eyes. "I was so worried," he muttered, then felt Dean start to press something to his shoulder. "He told me to wait until midnight, but I knew you'd be dead by then."

"I would have bargained," Dean joked. "No way I would have died without seeing you one last time."

"Sap,"  Castiel  teased, a smile playing with his lips. "I couldn't have watched my home die in front of me, you know. That's why I did what I did. Though, it looks like the plan backfired a little bit. I didn't mean to get shot." 

"Well, you were kind of playing Russian Roulette with him." 

Castiel  chuckled. "I guess so. Kill or be killed." 

Dean tied off the gauze he had wrapped around  Castiel's  shoulder and closed the kit, sitting back to face  Castiel . "Open your eyes, angel," Dean pleaded. "Please?"

Castiel  obliged and smiled at Dean, head leaning against the wall. "Thank you."

"It was no problem," Dean shook his head. 

"Michael and Lucifer should be here soon,"  Castiel  grinned. "Mind if I sleep? I've been tired all morning."

"I'll watch over you. Take a break from watching me." Dean kissed him lightly, something  Castiel  hadn't been expecting. "I'll be right here and I'll wake you when they get here." 

"Thank you." 

\-----

Castiel  woke up in bed with Dean beside him. He grumbled slightly and shifted on the uncomfortable bed, wondering what the hell was going on. Where was he?

"Hey- hey,  Cas ," Dean's hand rested on his cheek. "Calm down. Don't try to sit up just yet." 

"Why not?"  Castiel  blinked long and hard. "Where are we?"

"Hospital. You've got to get the bullet taken out of your shoulder, angel." Dean's hand remained on his cheek, thumb stroking under his eye gently. "You've been passed out for a while. You said you'd been tired since the morning?"

"Yeah,"  Castiel  yawned. "I didn't remember  anythin ' either..." He was suddenly alert, eyes focusing on Dean's. "Was I drugged?"

"I don't know," Dean sighed. "You could have been. We'll have them check, okay?" A confirming nod was  Castiel's  answer. "I had to have Nick carry you."

Castiel  chuckled softly. "Sounds fun. How much did he complain?"

"Not that much," Dean shrugged, bottom lip sticking out. "After I threated to call Sammy and tell him Nick was being a jerk, he was totally  compliant . Putty in my hands."

Castiel  looked over to see a smug smile gracing Dean's face and laughed. "Oh, you're perfect. I'm definitely sticking with you for a long time." 

"My astounding skills just keep you guessing, don't they,  Cas ?"

"Yes, they do, Dean,"  Castiel  chuckled. He accepted the soft kiss before the doctor came in with a tray and utensils that should have been certified as weapons. Dean excused himself silently as the doctor asked  Castiel  if he would like anything to numb the pain and  Castiel  practically begged for it.

\-----

A few minutes later,  Castiel  was blinking slowly and floating. Wait- no- he wasn't floating. He was laying in bed. 

There was a clicking and  Castiel  looking over at the doctor, who was placing a bloody bullet in the metal tray. " Tha ' was in me?"

"Yes, it was. Don't move just yet, I have to stitch you up and redress the wound. Okay?"

" Mm'kay ,"  Castiel  nodded, leaning his head back and gazing up at the ceiling. "Where's that guy who was just in here? He's my human." A proud smile settled on  Castiel's  lips. "Do you know where my human went?"

"I don't. I'm sorry," the man replied distractedly.

"Ah, that's okay. As long as he doesn't get in trouble again. When I couldn't find him this morning I cried. He's my human an' my home."  Castiel  paused, breathing softly. He was vaguely aware of the tugging of the needle in his skin, and winced slightly when it stung. "I'm a cop," he stated. "Detective, actually. My partner was a killer... But I guess we don't have to worry about that now. He put that bullet in me and I got one in him. Do you know where I got the bullet? I'm a good aim."

"No, I don't know. Should I ask?"

"I got him in the eye. He was going to kill my human. I couldn't let that happen." 

"Oh, no, you couldn't." 

"Never. Are you done?"  Castiel  looked down to see the doctor clipping the wire thread of his stitches. "Oh, wait, you had to dress it. Right?"

"Yep."

"Is it going to wear a dress?"

"Nope."

"What about a suit? I like suits. They're fancy. I wear one every day to work."

"It's not going to wear a suit, no, but you could pretend it is."

"I'll do that,"  Castiel  grinned. "My shot wound is wearing a suit. That sounds nice. It deserves to feel nice." 

"Yes, it does. It went through a lot of suffering."

"And pain. Though, really, pain is only suffering. So I guess it's actually a lot of suffering... A lot of it." 

The doctor laughed, finishing up. "All suited up. I have a feeling your human will be back soon. Mind being alone for a few seconds?" 

Castiel  shook his head and watched the doctor leave. 

He was left in silence for a bit, contemplating his feeling of floating and looking at his hands and rummaging around under his legs every few seconds to be sure he wasn't floating. Because, if he was floating, he wanted to know. How cool would it be if he was actually floating? Then Dean would have a reason to call him Angel. 

The door to the room opened again and distracted  Castiel . He looked up and grinned widely when he saw Dean coming into the room. "Human!"  Castiel  sat up and held his hand out to Dean, who was laughing. When Dean took his hand  Castiel  calmed down slightly, graciously accepting the kiss Dean leaned in to press to his lips. "I think I'm flying."

"You're not flying, angel," Dean replied softly. "Though, it would be cool if you could."

"Damn right, it would. I'd fly you everywhere you wanted to go. Paris? We're there. London? A flap of wings."

Dean grinned and squeezed his hand. "Sounds like it would be nice." Dean smiled at him and  Castiel  couldn't help smiling back.

"Want to know something, Dean?"

"What is it?"

Castiel  shook his head and gestured for Dean to come closer. "I love you,"  Castiel  whispered once Dean leaned in close enough. "I've only known since yesterday."

"I love you too,  Cas ," Dean laughed softly. "I only figured it out two days ago. Looks like I'm a step ahead of you." He winked at  Cas  and  Castiel  pouted. 

"I doubt that,"  Castiel  whined. "You're not ahead of me. I'm older than you!" 

"That you are," Dean grinned. "But you sure aren't acting it. I got the doctor's okay to take you home, by the way. Do you want some help changing into your clothes? I brought you some from your apartment." 

"Sounds wonderful,"  Castiel  grinned. "Thank you. This hospital gown thing isn't comfortable." 

"I bet," Dean replied, grabbing the bag from the end of the bed. He took  Castiel's  hand and helped him stand gently, supporting him slightly.  Castiel  winced when his feet hit the cold floor. 

"I hope you brought socks."


End file.
